May & Spring 2019 Climate Summary

May 2019 Precipitation Highlights:

Numerous weather systems affected central and southeast Illinois during much of May 2019. This resulted in above normal precipitation for most of the area, with the highest surpluses of 4-8" over the IL river valley. Galesburg measured 13 inches of rainfall during May, which was 8.5 inches above normal. This was Galesburg's 3rd wettest month since records began in 1895. Peoria had 8.26 inches of rain making it their 6th wettest May on record. This heavy rainfall continued many rivers in flood through the spring, with moderate to major flooding continuing along much of the Mississippi and IL rivers. A small portion of east central IL around Edgar county with Paris being three quarter inches below normal precipitation for the month. Severe weather that was well below normal during the first half of May, became very active during the 2nd half of the month, especially during the last 10 days of the month. This started with a widespread severe weather event on Wednesday night May 22-23rd with 65 severe weather reports over central IL including 4 tornadoes. There were 19 confirmed tornadoes in central IL during the week from May 22-29th. Baseball size hail fell in Westville in Vermilion county during Thursday afternoon May 16 while tennis ball hail fell in De Land in Piatt county Tuesday afternoon May 28th.
19 tornadoes in Central IL May 22-29, 2019

May 2019 Precipitation Departure from Normal in Central IL

May 2019 Temperature Highlights:

Monthly average temperatures were near or slightly above normal across most of central IL, except slightly below normal over parts of Fulton, Knox and Stark counties and 1-2 degrees above normal in southeast IL. As is typical during spring, large temperature swings were observed. Mothers Day weekend was cloudy, damp and chilly with highs only in the upper 40s to mid 50s. A cold snap on the 14th saw highs only reach the 30s and 40s. Highs reached the upper 80s on May 16 and 24th, while southeast IL continued reaching upper 80s to around 90 degrees from May 24-28th.

May 2019 Average Temperature Departure from Normal Central IL

May 2019 Climate Statistics:

City	Precipitation	Departure from Normal	Average Temperature	Departure from Normal
Charleston	5.02"	+0.40"	66.4	+2.0
Danville	5.71"	+0.97"	64.2	+1.1
Decatur	5.30"	+0.51"	63.6	-0.6
Effingham	7.39"	+2.12"	64.9	+1.5
Flora	7.12"	+1.90"	66.5	+2.0
Galesburg	13.00"	+8.55"	59.3	-2.1
Havana	10.64"	+5.85"	N/A	N/A
Jacksonville	8.80"	+3.99"	62.0	-0.1
Lincoln	6.84"	+2.68"	63.4	+0.4
Normal	9.37"	+4.73"	61.9	+0.8
Olney	7.86"	+2.03"	65.7	+1.9
Paris	3.81"	-0.74"	62.4	-0.6
Peoria	8.26"	+3.93"	62.3	-0.1
Springfield	6.32"	+2.08"	64.3	+0.6
Tuscola	6.41"	+2.23"	64.0	+0.8
Urbana	6.01"	+1.12"	62.9	+0.4

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

Spring 2019 Precipitation, Snowfall & Temperature Maps:

Spring 2019 (Mar-May) Climate Statistics:

City	Precipitation	Departure from Normal	Snowfall	Departure from Normal	Average Temperature	Departure from Normal
Charleston	16.20"	+4.4"	6.1"	+4.2"	54.0	-0.1
Danville	15.42"	+3.68"	Trace	-2.7"	51.7	-1.2
Decatur	15.75"	+4.70"	2.6"	+0.7"	51.4	-2.4
Effingham	16.47"	+3.92"	1.4"	-0.4"	52.7	-0.3
Flora	16.58"	+3.19"	1.2"	N/A	53.9	-0.4
Galesburg	19.88"	+8.95"	Trace	-2.1"	47.8	-2.3
Havana	18.01"	+6.76"	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Jacksonville	18.27"	+6.71"	3.3"	+0.7"	50.2	-1.4
Lincoln	17.72"	+7.35"	4.4"	+2.4"	51.1	-1.1
Normal	17.91"	+6.89"	2.3"	+0.1"	49.3	-0.5
Olney	19.21"	+4.71"	1.0"	-0.1"	53.2	-0.4
Paris	13.81"	+2.25"	2.3"	-0.5"	49.9	-2.3
Peoria	16.95"	+6.19"	5.8"	+2.5"	50.8	-1.0
Springfield	17.08"	+6.70"	5.3"	+2.5"	52.2	-0.9
Tuscola	16.54"	+5.40"	3.0"	+1.0"	50.8	-1.2
Urbana	16.06"	+4.63"	2.1"	-0.9"	50.8	-0.7

Lincoln was tied for its 2nd wettest spring, Peoria had their 5th wettest spring & Springfield had their 9th wettest spring on record.

The following links are the spring season 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