Jun 20 | Market Review and Weather Update

by Trent Ford, State Climatologist
Illinois State Water Survey | Prairie Research Institute
University of Illinois

Happy summer solstice – it’s all downhill from here! Every day from now until late December gets a bit shorter. But, we still have most of summer to enjoy, and this week’s temperatures were enjoyable. Average temps this week ranged from the high 60s in northern Illinois to the high 70s in southern Illinois, near to 1-2 degrees warmer than normal. June temperatures to date have been within 1 degree of normal statewide, giving us a mild start to the hottest season.

The stormtrack was very active this week, with multiple systems producing rain and some severe weather. 7-day totals ranged from around three quarters of an inch near the Quad Cities to over 4 inches in parts of southern and east-central Illinois. While the higher totals in far southern Illinois were not really necessary given how wet the last few months have been there, the rainfall was very much welcome in much of northern Illinois. Most of the state north of I-80 has been 2 to 4 inches drier than normal going back to the beginning of April, leading to some concerns of soil moisture shortages in parts of northwest and north-central Illinois. Unfortunately, the beneficial rain came along with some severe weather this week, including multiple confirmed tornadoes in central Illinois. Significant damage was reported in parts of Morgan, Mason, Champaign, and Vermilion Counties, among other places. Strong winds also caused quite a bit of damage across the northern half of the state on Wednesday, including some wind blown corn. On the positive side, the storms did not bring much hail to our state.

Looking ahead, the big story for this weekend and next week is the heat. A very large atmospheric ridge is setting up over the northeast part of the country, driving southwesterly winds, very high temperatures and humidity in Illinois. Highs will reach into the low to mid-90s statewide with dewpoints in the 70s. The high humidity not only means that heat index values will easily push into the triple digits, but that nighttime low temperatures will struggle to dip below 70 for several consecutive nights. Those planning on spending a lot of time outside this weekend and next week need to take all necessary heat precautions, including hydrating, taking breaks, and shifting work hours to the early morning and evening if at all possible. The ridge will also keep most of the state dry next week. Farther out, the week 2 outlooks keep better chances of above normal temperatures, but also show wetter than normal weather across the state as we transition to July.

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WILLAg.org radio programming for the work week ending June 20, 2025

Commodity Week can be heard in the 2 o’clock hour central time on WILL AM580 or you may subscribe to it using the links in the player below. This week the panelists include Brian Stark with The Andersons and Dave Chatterton from Strategic Farm Marketing.

The Closing Market Report airs at 2:06 p.m. central daily on WILL AM580. It, too, is a podcast. Subscribe using the link in the player.