Soil temperatures were above normal in mid-November, according to Jennie Atkins, the Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.
Soil temperatures at 4 inches under bare soil averaged 43.4 degrees on Nov. 14, 4.5 degrees below the long-term average. Daily maximums reached into the low 50s, with Fairfield reporting the day’s highest temperature at 52.7 degrees. Lows fell to the mid-30s, though temperatures remained above freezing throughout the state. Temperatures under sod were slightly warmer, with an average of 46.4 degrees.
Soil moisture levels changed little overall the first half of November. Increases occurred the first week of the month as the state received 1.05 inches of rain, on average. Soils dried out during the drier second week.
Conditions were driest in central Illinois, where levels averaged 0.25 water fraction by volume on Nov. 14, below the statewide average but above the wilting points for the soils monitored. Soil in the north remained damp with a mid-November average of 0.34 wfv.
The Illinois State Water Survey’s WARM Program collects hourly and daily weather and soil information at 19 stations across the state. Daily and monthly summaries can be found at the WARM website and in the Illinois Water and Climate Summary.
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