National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

May 2019 Precipitation Highlights:

  • Numerous weather systems affected central and southeast Illinois during much of May 2019.  This resulted in above normal precipitation for most of the area, with the highest surpluses of 4-8" over the IL river valley.  Galesburg measured 13 inches of rainfall during May, which was 8.5 inches above normal. This was Galesburg's 3rd wettest month since records began in 1895.  Peoria had 8.26 inches of rain making it their 6th wettest May on record.  This heavy rainfall continued many rivers in flood through the spring, with moderate to major flooding continuing along much of the Mississippi and IL rivers.  A small portion of east central IL around Edgar county with Paris being three quarter inches below normal precipitation for the month.  Severe weather that was well below normal during the first half of May, became very active during the 2nd half of the month, especially during the last 10 days of the month.  This started with a widespread severe weather event on Wednesday night May 22-23rd with 65 severe weather reports over central IL including 4 tornadoes. There were 19 confirmed tornadoes in central IL during the week from May 22-29th.  Baseball size hail fell in Westville in Vermilion county during Thursday afternoon May 16 while tennis ball hail fell in De Land in Piatt county Tuesday afternoon May 28th.  
     
  • 19 tornadoes in Central IL May 22-29, 2019
     
May 2019 Precipitation Central IL May 2019 Precipitation Departure from Normal in Central IL
   

 

May 2019 Temperature Highlights:

  • Monthly average temperatures were near or slightly above normal across most of central IL, except slightly below normal over parts of Fulton, Knox and Stark counties and 1-2 degrees above normal in southeast IL.  As is typical during spring, large temperature swings were observed.  Mothers Day weekend was cloudy, damp and chilly with highs only in the upper 40s to mid 50s. A cold snap on the 14th saw highs only reach the 30s and 40s.  Highs reached the upper 80s on May 16 and 24th, while southeast IL continued reaching upper 80s to around 90 degrees from May 24-28th. 
     
May 2019 Average Temperature Central IL May 2019 Average Temperature Departure from Normal Central IL

 

May 2019 Climate Statistics:
 

City

Precipitation
 

Departure from Normal Average Temperature
 
Departure from Normal

Charleston

5.02" +0.40" 66.4 +2.0
Danville

5.71"

+0.97" 64.2 +1.1

Decatur

5.30" +0.51" 63.6 -0.6
Effingham

7.39"

+2.12" 64.9 +1.5

Flora

7.12" +1.90" 66.5 +2.0

Galesburg

13.00" +8.55" 59.3 -2.1

Havana

10.64" +5.85" N/A N/A

Jacksonville

8.80" +3.99" 62.0 -0.1

Lincoln

6.84" +2.68" 63.4 +0.4

Normal

9.37"

+4.73" 61.9 +0.8

Olney

7.86" +2.03" 65.7 +1.9

Paris

3.81" -0.74" 62.4 -0.6

Peoria

8.26" +3.93" 62.3 -0.1
Springfield

6.32"

+2.08" 64.3 +0.6

Tuscola

6.41" +2.23" 64.0 +0.8

Urbana

6.01" +1.12" 62.9 +0.4


The following links are the monthly climate summaries for area cities. Only the summaries for Peoria, Springfield, and Lincoln are considered "official", meaning they are the station of record for their respective locations. The other summaries are "supplemental", meaning another location in the area is the official climate station for the city.

  • Peoria -- Peoria International Airport
  • Springfield -- Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport
  • Lincoln -- National Weather Service Office
  • Champaign -- University of Illinois-Willard Airport
  • Decatur -- Decatur Airport
  • Lawrenceville -- Lawrenceville-Vincennes International Airport
  • Mattoon -- Coles County Memorial Airport

Climate data for other cities is available at http://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=ilx

 

Spring 2019 Precipitation, Snowfall & Temperature Maps:


Spring 2019 Precipitation Central ILSpring 2019 Precipitation Departure from Normal in Central IL

 

Spring 2019 Snowfall in Central ILSpring 2019 Snowfall Departure from Normal in Central IL

Spring 2019 Average Temperature Central ILSpring 2019 Average Temperature Departure from Normal Central IL

Spring 2019 (Mar-May) Climate Statistics:
 

City

Precipitation
 

Departure from Normal Snowfall Departure
from
Normal
Average Temperature
 
Departure from Normal

Charleston

16.20" +4.4" 6.1" +4.2" 54.0 -0.1
Danville

15.42"

+3.68" Trace -2.7" 51.7 -1.2

Decatur

15.75" +4.70" 2.6" +0.7" 51.4 -2.4
Effingham

16.47"

+3.92" 1.4" -0.4" 52.7 -0.3

Flora

16.58" +3.19" 1.2" N/A 53.9 -0.4

Galesburg

19.88" +8.95" Trace -2.1" 47.8 -2.3

Havana

18.01" +6.76" N/A N/A N/A N/A

Jacksonville

18.27" +6.71" 3.3" +0.7" 50.2 -1.4

Lincoln

17.72" +7.35" 4.4" +2.4" 51.1 -1.1

Normal

17.91"

+6.89" 2.3" +0.1" 49.3 -0.5

Olney

19.21" +4.71" 1.0" -0.1" 53.2 -0.4

Paris

13.81" +2.25" 2.3" -0.5" 49.9 -2.3

Peoria

16.95" +6.19" 5.8" +2.5" 50.8 -1.0
Springfield

17.08"

+6.70" 5.3" +2.5" 52.2 -0.9

Tuscola

16.54" +5.40" 3.0" +1.0" 50.8 -1.2

Urbana

16.06" +4.63" 2.1" -0.9" 50.8 -0.7


Lincoln was tied for its 2nd wettest spring, Peoria had their 5th wettest spring & Springfield had their 9th wettest spring on record.  


The following links are the spring season climate summaries for area cities. Only the summaries for Peoria, Springfield, and Lincoln are considered "official", meaning they are the station of record for their respective locations. The other summaries are "supplemental", meaning another location in the area is the official climate station for the city.

  • Peoria -- Peoria International Airport
  • Springfield -- Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport
  • Lincoln -- National Weather Service Office
  • Champaign -- University of Illinois-Willard Airport
  • Decatur -- Decatur Airport
  • Lawrenceville -- Lawrenceville-Vincennes International Airport
  • Mattoon -- Coles County Memorial Airport