May 02 | Climate Review and Weather Forecast

A continued active storm track brought multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms this week. 7-day totals ranged from around a half inch in parts of western Illinois to over 4 inches near the Metro East area. While the entire state got some rain this week, it was the area around and south of Interstate 70 that continued to get the highest totals. Most of southern Illinois had between 6 and 16 inches of rain in the month of April, exceeding 300% of normal in some places. Meanwhile, most of central and northern Illinois were nearer to their April normal precipitation, or around 1-2 inches drier than normal, especially in Jo Daviess and Stephenson Counties. The storms this week also produced all forms of severe weather, including tornadoes confirmed in McDonough and Effingham Counties, and reports of wind damage across central and southern Illinois. Despite setting a new statewide tornado record last year, we are actually ahead of 2024 tornadoes to date as we move into May.

Looking ahead, a cutoff low will keep most of the state cloudy and rainy this weekend. However, as we move into the middle to end of next week, temperatures look to rebound in the 70s and low 80s, with diminishing chances of rain. Farther out, the outlooks for the second full week of May, and the month of May as a whole show best chances of warmer and drier than normal weather. Good timing for folks to make headway on spring fieldwork, or at the very least dry out from what has been a very wet start to spring.