Feb 03 | Weekly Climate Review & Forecast

The transition from January and February brought winter-like weather that we have been lacking for a while. Average temperatures this week ranged from the low teens in northern Illinois to the low 30s in southern Illinois, between 3 and 10 degrees below normal. This week wrapped up an otherwise very mild January that will likely be a top ten warmest on record statewide. Official numbers will be released next week, but the preliminary January statewide average temperature was about 7 degrees above normal.

We had a mostly dry week, with precipitation totals less than a quarter of an inch in central Illinois, and less than 1 inch in far northern and southern Illinois. Most of the precipitation in northern Illinois this week came as moderate to heavy snowfall. 7-day snow totals were as high as 9 inches in McHenry County and 7 inches in Winnebago County. Still, January ended with 2 to 8 inch snowfall deficits north of I-64, and all of central and northern Illinois hang on to winter season snowfall deficits of 4 to 12 inches.

Looking ahead, following a couple of cooler days we’re seeing a warm up by early next week. Highs may crack the 50s in central and parts of northern Illinois on Monday, and stay mild through next week. Forecasted precipitation totals for the week are mostly less than three quarters of an inch statewide. Farther out, all of the outlooks through the end of the month lean to warmer and wetter than normal conditions statewide. As a more active storm track looks to set up by mid-month, we’ll look for wetter conditions as we move closer to spring.