Cool, dry November in Illinois

[December 07, 2012]  CHAMPAIGN -- November was especially dry in Illinois, and temperatures were cooler than normal for the month, according to Jim Angel, Illinois state climatologist, of the Illinois State Water Survey at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

The statewide average precipitation for November was only 1.26 inches, which is 36 percent of normal, or 2.21 inches below normal. It ranks as the 17th-driest November on record since 1895.

The statewide average precipitation from January to November was only 27.6 inches, nearly 10 inches below the normal of 37.5 inches.

The statewide average temperature for November was 40.8 degrees, 1.1 degrees below normal.

The statewide average temperature in Illinois for January to November this year was 57.3 degrees, based on preliminary data. That is 3.1 degrees above normal and the second-warmest on record. Only in 1921 were temperatures warmer, at 57.6 degrees. Most of the above-normal warmth this year occurred in the January-to-July time frame.

What does this mean for the drought? The recovery that began in late August and continued through October in much of the state has stalled out.

"We will need close to normal precipitation in the winter months to continue to close the gap on soil moisture as well as surface and groundwater supplies," Angel said.

[Text from file received from the Illinois State Water Survey]