Soil moisture levels remain lower than normal in Illinois

[September 23, 2013]  CHAMPAIGN -- Soil moisture levels remain lower than normal, according to Jennie Atkins, program manager of Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring at the Prairie Research Institute, Illinois State Water Survey, University of Illinois.

Soil moisture at 2 inches averaged 0.19 water fraction by volume statewide on Sept. 15, which is lower than the historical average of 0.23 wfv. Moisture levels were highest in northern Illinois, at an average of 0.24 wfv, with the higher levels due to precipitation in the region on Sept. 15.

Conditions were wetter at the deeper soil levels. Statewide moisture levels at 20 inches averaged 0.31 wfv, with the highest moisture levels measured in the southern portion of the state.

Soil temperatures declined from August. Temperatures at depths of 4 inches under bare soil averaged 69.4 degrees statewide on Sept. 15. The highest temperature, 75.7 degrees F, was measured in Carbondale.

The Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring program, known as WARM, collects hourly and daily weather and soil information at 19 stations across the state. Daily and monthly summaries are available on the WARM website, http://www.isws.illinois.edu/warm/, and in the Illinois Water and Climate Summary, http://www.isws.illinois.edu/warm/climate.asp.

Maps of soil temperatures and moisture levels are also available on the WARM website.

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

The Illinois State Water Survey at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a division of the Prairie Research Institute, is the primary agency in Illinois concerned with water and atmospheric resources.