October wet, ninth-coldest on record
Home
heating demand up 38 percent
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[NOV. 18, 2006]
SPRINGFIELD -- October temperatures were 3.8
degrees below normal and the ninth-coldest October on record.
Temperatures across the state dropped to the freezing mark or lower
for the first time this fall on Oct. 12 and 13, including a low of
20 degrees at Park Forest on Oct. 12. Those temperatures effectively
ended the 2006 growing season. As a result of the cold weather,
October heating degree days, a measure of home heating demand, were
38 percent above normal and averaged 462 heating degree days
statewide, compared with the normal 335.
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Preliminary data for Illinois indicate that October's 3.97 inches of
rainfall was 1.05 inches above normal. "Rainfall has been much above
normal in southern, central and northeastern Illinois, especially
the Chicago area," said Jim Angel, state climatologist, with the
Illinois State Water Survey, a division of the Illinois Department
of Natural Resources.
On Oct. 3, Midway Airport reported 3.80 inches of rain, the
largest one-day rainfall of the month, and the Chicago Botanic
Garden reported 7.75 inches, the largest monthly total. The U.S.
Drought Monitor depicts the area between Quincy and Moline in
western Illinois, where rainfall has been about 25 percent below
normal, as being in "moderate" drought, however.
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![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2006/Nov/18/images/ads/current/logancountyhardware.gif)
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2006/Nov/18/images/ads/current/LCBDsmall.gif) |
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2006/Nov/18/images/ads/current/ace%20large%20buttonized.gif) Historically, a colder-than-normal October does not increase the
chance for a cold winter. In fact, previous cold Octobers were more
likely to be followed by December-February periods with temperatures
near normal.
The National Weather Service winter outlook still calls for an
increased chance of temperatures above normal across Illinois and
precipitation below normal in the southern two-thirds of the state.
Complete climate data is available at
http://www.sws.uiuc.edu.
[Illinois State Water Survey
news release] |