7th-warmest November on record

[December 03, 2009]  CHAMPAIGN -- Based on preliminary data in Illinois, the statewide average temperature for November was 46.9 degrees, 5.1 degrees above normal. This was the seventh-warmest November on record for the state, based on data going back to 1895, according to Jim Angel, state climatologist, of the Illinois State Water Survey.

The warmest November on record is a tie between 1931 and 2001, both with 49.8 degrees. Parts of northern Illinois reported light snowfall on Thanksgiving Day, the first measurable snowfall of the season. Roscoe, just north of Rockford, reported the highest amount around the state at 1.5 inches.

The statewide precipitation for November was 2.6 inches, 0.7 inches below normal. While rainfall totals of 1.5 to 3 inches were common in far southern and northern Illinois, the heaviest rains of 3 to 4 inches fell across central Illinois. Perry, in west-central Illinois, reported a monthly total of 5.47 inches, the highest in the state.

"It is very unusual to have two back-to-back exceptionally wet years like this. The January-November precipitation total for this year was 46.2 inches, the third-wettest on record. Last January-November was 46.1 inches, the fourth-wettest on record. In fact, 2009 is already the 10th-wettest year on record, even if no precipitation falls in December," Angel said.

The Illinois State Water Survey at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, under the Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability, is the primary agency in Illinois concerned with water and atmospheric resources.

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