December Climate Summary

December Precipitation Highlights:

• Liquid equivalent precipitation was well below normal across central and southeast IL.  Monthly totals of 1-2.5" were common, which was around one half to one inch below normal.  Much of the rain fell on the 28th-29th, when widespread 1-2" totals were reported.
  • A strong storm system brought copious amounts of rainfall to central Illinois the weekend of Dec. 28-29.  An area of showers impacted locations along and west of the Illinois River early Saturday morning, however conditions stayed mostly dry across the remainder of the region until Saturday evening when widespread heavier showers developed.  After this second wave of rain departed early Sunday morning, another stretch of dry weather was observed until a final wave of showers arrived Sunday evening.  The heaviest rainfall over the period was focused from Canton to Lincoln northward through Peoria metro, and in far southeast Illinois near Lawrenceville.  The highest 2 day amounts reported were just over 2" near Peoria and in Lawrenceville.
     

December Snowfall Highlights:

• Snowfall was below normal north of a Jacksonville to Danville line, and above normal farther south.  Monthly totals as high as 6-8" were reported for parts of east central and southeast IL, while 1-3" totals were common farther north.  This was largely the result of one snow system which affected the area on the 15th-16th.

  • Two rounds of wintery weather affected the area on Dec. 15-16. The first was caused by an upper level disturbance which tracked in from the west on Sunday Dec. 15.  This spread accumulating snow across all of central and southeast Illinois during the afternoon and evening.  The heaviest snow occurred south of a Springfield to Paris line.  By time this departed the area Sunday night, 4 to 6 inch totals were common in this area.  Farther north, lighter accumulations of 2 to 4 inches were reported over the remainder of central Illinois. The second system was caused by a surface low pressure system which passed south of the Ohio Valley on Monday.  This primarily affected areas southeast of a Springfield to Danville line.  The heaviest snow with this round occurred over southeast Illinois, with 2 to 3 inches of additional accumulation, primarily late morning through early evening. Highest two days totals of 6 to 8 inches were common from Pana east through Charleston, and south to Effingham. 
     

December Temperature Highlights:

• December temperatures were well above normal across the entire area, ranging from 4 to 7 degrees above normal for central and southeast IL.  Only one stretch of cold weather was noted for about a week during the middle of the month.  The warmest days were seen during the last week of Dec. when several days saw highs in the 50s and 60s, including record warm highs on Dec. 25th and 26th.
   

December Climate Statistics:
 

The following links are the monthly climate summaries for area cities. Only the summaries for Peoria, Springfield, and Lincoln are considered "official", meaning they are the station of record for their respective locations. The other summaries are "supplemental", meaning another location in the area is the official climate station for the city.

• Peoria -- Peoria International Airport
• Springfield -- Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport
• Lincoln -- National Weather Service Office
• Champaign -- University of Illinois-Willard Airport
• Decatur -- Decatur Airport
• Lawrenceville -- Lawrenceville-Vincennes International Airport
• Mattoon -- Coles County Memorial Airport

Climate data for other cities is available at http://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=ilx

January Look Ahead:

• Official outlooks from NOAA's Climate Predication center show equal chances of above or below normal precipitation (no trend favored) for central IL, with above normal precipitation favored for southeast IL.  Temperature outlooks show equal chances of above or below normal (no trend favored) for the northern half of IL, with above normal favored for the southern half of the state.