Weather

Our last full week of March had very March-like weather, with average temperatures ranging from the high 30s in far northern Illinois to the low 50s in far southern Illinois, right around normal for this time of the year. March to date average temperatures have been 3 to 6 degrees warmer than normal; a top 10 warmest March on record so far for much of northern Illinois.
Another round of storms brought modest precipitation totals across the state this week,…

The first week of March and climatological spring was decidedly spring-like. Average temperatures ranged from the mid-30s in northern Illinois to the high 40s in southern Illinois, between 3 and 8 degrees above normal. High temperatures reached into the 60s and 70s early in the week before crashing back to the 30s and 40s. February ended 2 to 4 degrees below normal statewide, wrapping up a climatological winter season that was within 1 degree of normal statewide.…

The first week of March and climatological spring was decidedly spring-like. Average temperatures ranged from the mid-30s in northern Illinois to the high 40s in southern Illinois, between 3 and 8 degrees above normal. High temperatures reached into the 60s and 70s early in the week before crashing back to the 30s and 40s. February ended 2 to 4 degrees below normal statewide, wrapping up a climatological winter season that was within 1 degree of normal statewide.…

 
Finally, the coldest week of the year by far has come to an end. Average temperatures this week ranged from the single digits in northwest Illinois to the high 20s in southern Illinois, between 10 and 20 degrees below normal. Nighttime low temperatures regularly dipped into the single digits to well below zero, including -15 in McHenry and -12 in Freeport. Even Carbondale briefly dipped below zero this week. Maybe more impressive was the fact that several places did not get above freezing the entire week.…

Average temperatures this week were a bit closer to normal than in the first week of the month, ranging from the low 20s in northern Illinois to the high 30s in southern Illinois. February to date has been 4 to 10 degrees above normal, following the 35th coldest January on record statewide. Temperatures did flip later in the week, with nighttime lows dipping into the single digits to below zero across the state early Friday morning. …

We got a little break from winter this week, as average temperatures ranged from the low 30s in northern Illinosi to the mid-40s in southern Illinois, between 5 and 12 degrees above average. Monday brought spring-like temperatures across the state, and several places broke the 70-degree mark, including 76 degrees in Jerseyville and 70 in Charleston. In Jerseyville specifically, Monday was the earliest occurrence of a high temperature 75 degrees or higher on record, going back to the 1940s.…

January continued its cold pattern this week. Average temperatures ranged from the mid teens to the high 20s across the state, between 4 and 12 degrees below normal. Some of the more impressive nighttime low temperatures this week included -7 degrees in Aurora and -6 degrees in Champaign. The first half of the month has at least felt quite cold, and has been colder than normal; however, this month so far is only among the top 40 to 50 coldest on record in Illinois.…

The first full week of the year was more winter-like than pretty much anything we had in 2024. Average temperatures this week ranged from the low teens in northern Illinois to the mid-20s in southern Illinois, between 3 and 6 degrees below normal. High temperatures regularly struggled to make it above freezing while low temperatures dipped near to below zero on a few nights. Some of the more impressive nighttime low temperatures included -2 degrees in Champaign and -1 in Lincoln.…

A winter storm warning is in effect for Champaign county and surrounding portions of east central Illinois until 12 p.m. Monday. Periods of heavy snow and blustery winds are expected to create dangerous winter weather conditions Sunday afternoon into Monday morning after a quiet morning locally. Snow will begin to over spread the region through midday. The heaviest snow is expected to fall across Champaign county late Sunday afternoon into Sunday night with 4 to 7 inches of accumulation possible by Monday morning.…

Happy new year! We’ll start 2025 by looking back at 2024 and then looking ahead to some significant weather this upcoming week. Official numbers will be released next week, but it’s likely 2024 was a top 5 warmest year on record statewide, with only 2012 and 1998 possibly warmer overall. What we do know is that 2024 was the warmest year on record in both Chicago and Peoria, and a top 5 warmest in most cities around the state.…