September Hotter and, in Some Areas, Wetter Than Usual

Print

Published on October 4 2018 9:48 am
Last Updated on October 4 2018 9:50 am

FROM FARMWEEKNOW.COM

Did you sweat through the month of September? The state just lived through the 12th warmest September on record. Overall State Climatologist Jim Angel says the average temperature was about four degrees above normal. And along with being warm it’s was also a fairly wet month.

The Illinois statewide average temperature for September was 70 degrees, 3.8 degrees above normal and the 12th-warmest September on record, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey at the University of Illinois. 
The hottest September temperature recorded measured 99 degrees in Springfield on Sept. 5, with the coldest Sept. 29 at Ottawa at 30 degrees.
 
The September statewide average rainfall was 4.97 inches, 1.74 inches above normal. That made 2018 the 19th-wettest September on record. The highest monthly rainfall total for the month was 12.43 inches at Clay City, just south of Effingham.
 
Rainfall was heaviest in southern Illinois, with amounts of up to 12 inches, and in northwestern and western Illinois, with amounts up to 10 inches – all well above normal. A band of drier conditions stretched from St. Louis to Chicago, where rainfall totals of 1 to 3 inches were common.
 
Heavy rains also fell across the upper Midwest in September. The rains were especially heavy in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, leading to river flooding in Illinois along the Mississippi and rivers flowing out of Wisconsin.
 
The National Weather Service outlook for October shows Illinois with very strong chances for above-normal temperatures and rainfall.