Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Cold, dry December ends a warm year in Illinois

The statewide average temperature for December was 28.6, 1.3 degrees below normal, according to Jim Angel, Illinois state climatologist at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois. 

December precipitation was below normal across most of Illinois, except for far southern Illinois. The statewide average precipitation was 1.41 inches, 1.28 inches below normal. The largest reported precipitation total in December was 6.03 inches in Rosiclare in Hardin County.

December snowfall was absent in far southern Illinois and increased northward. Only northern Illinois received above-normal snowfall. The largest monthly snowfall total was 24.3 inches in Bull Valley in McHenry County.

For 2016, the statewide average temperature was 54.7, 2.4 degrees above normal and the fifth-warmest year on record. Temperatures were above normal in 10 out of 12 months. The only two months that were colder than normal were May and December.

The statewide average precipitation for 2016 was 39.63 inches, 0.33 inches below normal. Eight of the 12 months had below-normal precipitation. The year would have been dry except for the record rainfall in July and August.

Annual precipitation was highest in southern Illinois and lowest in western Illinois. In fact, much of western Illinois received precipitation of several inches below normal for the year. The most precipitation reported in Illinois for 2016 was 60.46 inches at Rosiclare.

Read Next

Uncategorized Portrait photos of, from left, Carl Bernacchi, Stephen Long and Donald Ort

Review: Heat-resilient crops are within reach — given enough time and money

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Laboratory and field experiments have repeatedly shown that modifying the process of photosynthesis or the physical characteristics of plants can make crops more resilient to hotter temperatures. Scientists can now alter the abundance or orientation of leaves, change leaf chemistry to improve heat tolerance and adjust key steps in the process of […]

Arts Diptych image of the book cover of "Natural Attachments" and a portrait of Pollyanna Rhee standing in front of greenery.

Book explores how ‘domestication’ of environmentalism limits who it protects

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The response to a 1969 oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, reveals how the modern environmental movement has been used to protect the interests of private homeowners, said a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researcher. Landscape architecture professor Pollyanna Rhee chronicled how affluent homeowners use what she calls “ownership environmentalism” […]

Agriculture Graduate student Andrea Jimena Valdés-Alvarado, left, and food science professor Elvira Gonzalez de Mejia standing in the Edward R. Madigan Laboratory holding samples of the legume pulses they used in the study.

Fermenting legume pulses boosts their antidiabetic, antioxidant properties

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Food scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign identified the optimal fermentation conditions for pulses ― the dried edible seeds of legumes ― that increased their antioxidant and antidiabetic properties and their soluble protein content. Using the bacteria Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 299v as the microorganism, the team fermented pulses obtained from varying concentrations […]

Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

507 E. Green St
MC-426
Champaign, IL 61820

Email: stratcom@illinois.edu

Phone (217) 333-5010