July was hot, sticky and wet      

[AUG. 3, 2006]  CHAMPAIGN -- "Preliminary data for Illinois indicate that July's 4.38 inches of rainfall was 0.56 inches above normal," said Jim Angel, state climatologist. "The only areas with rainfall below normal were around Quincy and across south-central Illinois, along Interstate 70. Amounts there generally were less than an inch below normal. Precipitation in northeastern and much of southern Illinois was above normal. Cisco, near Decatur, reported not only the heaviest one-day rainfall, 6.23 inches on July 27, which exceeded the amount from a six-hour, 100-year storm, but also the highest monthly total, 14.27 inches."

The statewide average temperature in July was 77.3 degrees, which was 1.5 degrees above normal and the 26th-hottest July on record. Temperature extremes ranged from 46 degrees at Mount Carroll on July 7 to 101 degrees at Quincy on July 31.

According to Angel, July 1936 is still the hottest July on record for Illinois, with temperatures 7.7 degrees above normal and 1.4 degrees hotter than the second-warmest July, in 1901. July 1936 set several daily and monthly records across the state. West-central Illinois had some of the hottest temperatures in 1936, including 110 degrees on July 14 at Springfield, which also had 25 days at or above 90 and 17 days at or above 100. The average high temperature in Springfield that July, before air conditioning was widely available, was 98.3.

The National Weather Service is calling for an increased chance of temperatures above normal for August and August-October. There are equal chances of precipitation being above, below or at normal during the next three months. Historically, there is a degree of persistence between July and August temperatures, so expect more of the same in August. "Stay tuned to NWS heat advisories and warnings, and take precautions to prevent heat exhaustion and heatstroke," Angel said.

The state climatologist is on the staff of the Illinois State Water Survey, a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

For more information, consult www.weather.gov, www.sws.uiuc.edu/atmos/statecli/ and www.keepcool.illinois.gov.

[Illinois State Water Survey news release]