Aug 01 | Weather Update and Market Review

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

We can wrap a bow around a very hot and humid month of July across Illinois. Average temperatures in July were between 2 and 6 degrees above average, and last month will likely be a top 20 warmest July on record statewide. However, the character of the heat was different than past very hot Julys. We did not have several days with temperatures in the triple digits, but instead had weeks’ worth of temperatures that were consistently 3 to 8 degrees above average. So, more of a simmer than a full on boil. The real exceptional part of last month’s weather, though, was the humidity. Much of the state experienced very uncomfortable levels of humidity day and night throughout July. In fact, Peoria, Springfield, and Carbondale all had the most July hours with a dewpoint temperature above 70 degrees on record. Far southern Illinois spent nearly 90% of the entire month at or above a 70 degree dewpoint, by far the most on record.

We stayed wet throughout much of this week, with heavier totals ahead of the cold front that swept through the state on Wednesday. July precipitation totals ranged from around 2.5 inches in southwest Illinois to nearly 15 inches in parts of western and south-central Illinois. Most of the state was 1 to 5 inches wetter than normal last month. Some of the more impressive July rainfall numbers included 13.5 inches in Jerseyville and nearly 12 inches in Dixon. Although we had a lot of rain and storms across the state last month, only 1 tornado was reported in all of July, which was an EF-0 in Fayette County. So, for all the humidity and, in some cases, flooding, at least we got a break from tornadoes.

The cold front in mid-week brought much more comfortable temperatures and humidity, albeit with Canadian wildfire smoke and bad air quality. The smoke looks to clear a bit this weekend and into early next week, giving us an opportunity to get out and enjoy the comfortable weather. Temperatures will climb a bit next week, with highs in the 80s statewide and a bit higher humidity, although nothing like what we saw in July. Farther out, the outlooks for the second full week of August show best chances of warmer and wetter than normal conditions to come back. This week we also got a glimpse at the newest outlooks for fall, which are leaning to warmer and maybe drier than normal between September and November.

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WILLAg.org radio programming for the work week ending August 1, 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 Logan Kimme with RoachAg.com, Matt Bennett from AgMarket.net, and Ellen Dearden at AgReview.

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