Overview
July continued the trend since May, of very wet conditions across parts of central Illinois. An active storm track that has been centered on the Midwest has resulted in the repeated heavy rains. In July, the heavier rains were focused on west-central IL, and areas along and north of the I-74 corridor. A pocket of drier (near to below normal) conditions developed during the second half of the month in east-central IL, and areas south of I-70. Increased clouds and frequent rainfall kept temperatures 1-2 degrees below normal, for the monthly average.
A couple significant weather events impacted the area during the month:
On July 8th, an area of low pressure tracked from the central Plains, into the southern Great Lakes. Widespread rain accompanied this feature, with the heaviest rain falling along and north of the low track. Rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches were common along and northwest of a Taylorville to Danville line and along and southeast of a Macomb to Henry line. The maximum rainfall occurred from northern and eastern Logan County northeastward across much of McLean County. These locations picked up in excess of 3 inches, with isolated amounts of around 4 inches across eastern McLean County. Due to the heavy rainfall coming down in a short amount of time, flash flooding occurred in Bloomington-Normal, as well as across portions of northern Champaign County during the evening of the 8th.
On July 16th, a tornado struck Delavan in southern Tazewell County, late in the evening. 51 homes were damaged on the south side of town, six of which were determinted to be a total loss. While there were no fatalities, there were two injuries. The NWS damage survey rated the tornado EF2, with wind speeds estimated at 120 MPH. The tornado was on the ground for 1.3 miles.
The table at the bottom of the page summarizes May through July rainfall. While isolated areas saw only slightly above normal totals, much of central and southeast Illinois saw 1.5 to 2 times normal rainfall through the period. The highest total for the 3 months was recorded by an observer west of Bloomington, who measured 26.39", or 212% of normal!
Rainfall Maps (click to enlarge)
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Midwest July Rainfall
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Midwest % of Normal July Rainfall | |
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Illinois July Rainfall
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Illinois % of Normal July Rainfall
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July Temperature Average
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July Temperature Average Departure
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Rainfall Totals (from NWS Cooperative observers and Airport ASOS - updated August 1)
| Location | July 2015 Rainfall |
July Normal Rainfall |
July Rank | May - July 2015 Rainfall | May - July Normal Rainfall |
| Altona | 4.52" | 4.09" | 18.59" | 12.84" | |
| Arthur 1W | 4.24" | NA | 16.25" | NA | |
| Athens 4SW | 4.47" | NA | 18.43" | NA | |
| Beecher City | 5.67" | 3.96" | 10th wettest | 21.21" | 13.15" |
| Bloomington 5W | 7.73" | 4.14" | 26.39" | 12.45" | |
| Bloomington Water Works | 6.47" | 3.99" | 22.93" | 12.44" | |
| Bloomington AWSS | 8.49" | NA | 24.47" | NA | |
| Buffalo | 4.77" | 4.30" | 18.64" | 12.95" | |
| Canton | 6.13" | 4.33" | 25.56" | 14.10" | |
| Casey | 3.75" | 4.15" | 15.30" | 13.20" | |
| Champaign ASOS | 2.37" | 4.34" | 16.31" | 13.06" | |
| Charleston | 2.88" | 4.47" | 14.73" | 13.44" | |
| Chenoa #2 | 5.27" | 3.55" | 23.91" | 11.28" | |
| Cisco | 4.43" | 4.86" | 17.01" | 13.73" | |
| Clay City 6SSE | 4.40" | 3.95" | 17.38" | 13.18" | |
| Clinton 1SSW | 6.40" | 4.58" | 13th wettest | 20.25" | 13.36" |
| Congerville 2NW | 7.57" | 3.98" | 3rd wettest | 24.52" | 12.56" |
| Dahinda 1NE | 4.78" | 4.21" | 18.61" | 12.81" | |
| Danville | 3.75" | 4.67" | 22.45" | 13.96" | |
| Danville STP | 3.06" | 4.86" | 22.47" | 14.05" | |
| Decatur WTP | 4.53" | 3.98" | 16.60" | 13.27" | |
| Decatur ASOS | 4.66" | 3.86" | 15.67" | 12.50" | |
| Effingham 3SW | 5.29" | 4.18" | 25.11" | 13.49" | |
| Effingham SE | 3.69" | 4.18" | 21.71" | 13.49" | |
| Eureka | 4.48" | 4.10" | 19.01" | 13.04" | |
| Fisher | 4.67" | 4.44" | 20.83" | 13.66" | |
| Flora | 4.38" | 4.11" | 24.20" | 13.51" | |
| Galesburg | 6.68" | 4.38" | 14th wettest | 19.14" | 13.13" |
| Havana | 4.90" | 4.04" | 24.54" | 13.19" | |
| Hoopeston | 8.23" | 4.39" | 6th wettest | 22.01" | 13.44" |
| Jacksonville 2E | 7.94" | 3.95" | 9th wettest | 23.71" | 13.34" |
| Jacksonville #2 | 8.98" | 3.86" | 25.56" | 12.85" | |
| Kincaid 3W | 4.32" | 3.63" | 19.32" | 13.00" | |
| Knoxville | 7.33" | 4.29" | 4th wettest | 18.74" | 13.66" |
| Lacon 1N | 3.48" | 3.72" | 22.11" | 11.99" | |
| Lake Springfield | 3.30" | 3.71" | 17.60" | 12.45" | |
| Lawrenceville ASOS | 3.63" | 4.42" | 16.04" | 13.98" | |
| Lincoln | 5.93" | 5.06" | 15th Wettest | 23.44" | 13.54" |
| Lovington | 5.93" | 4.51" | 17.29" | 13.73" | |
| Mackinaw 1N | 7.38" | 4.34" | 7th wettest | 24.85" | 12.35" |
| Mattoon | 2.35" | 4.22" | 12.71" | 12.50" | |
| Mattoon ASOS | 3.02" | 4.25" | 15.21" | 12.86" | |
| Minonk | 5.45" | 3.80" | 17.10" | 11.79" | |
| Morton | 6.22" | 3.89" | 23.28" | 12.88" | |
| Mount Pulaski | 4.41" | 4.44" | 16.56" | 12.57" | |
| Mowequa 2S | 1.68" | 3.73" | 15.45" | 12.64" | |
| Neoga 4NW | 2.61" | 5.42" | 18.27" | 14.58" | |
| Newton | 4.28" | 3.83" | 20.67" | 13.46" | |
| Normal 4NE | 6.96" | 4.16" | 7th Wettest | 22.04" | 12.71" |
| Ogden | 2.56" | 5.02" | 21.19" | 14.14" | |
| Olney 2S | 3.16" | 4.33" | 20.98" | 14.35" | |
| Pana | 1.41" | 3.95" | 14.20" | 13.10" | |
| Paris | 2.43" | 4.43" | 12.59" | 13.33" | |
| Peoria 5NW | 5.49" | NA | 20.64" | 12.89" | |
| Peoria ASOS | 5.84" | 3.85" | 19th wettest | 22.43" | 11.71" |
| Petersburg 1N | 3.81" | 4.41" | 20.89" | 12.89" | |
| Philo | 3.50" | 4.55" | 20.63" | 13.67" | |
| Rantoul | 6.63" | 4.59" | 22.56" | 12.89" | |
| Roanoke | 5.76" | 3.86" | 19.07" | 12.32" | |
| Rushville 4NE | 4.89" | 4.41" | 23.75" | 14.10" | |
| Sherman 1ESE | 4.51" | 4.47" | 21.92" | 13.31" | |
| Shelbyville dam | 1.18" | 3.54" | 13.58" | 11.44" | |
| Sidell 5NW | 1.03" | 5.15" | 15.53" | 13.47" | |
| Springfield #2 | 4.10" | 4.32" | 21.70" | 13.62" | |
| Springfield ASOS | 4.16" | 3.94" | 19.25" | 12.64" | |
| Sullivan 3S | 2.32" | 4.34" | 17.68" | 13.28" | |
| Taylorville 2SW | 2.92" | 3.73" | 16.76" | 12.92" | |
| Tuscola | 1.50" | 4.76" | 14.53" | 13.38" | |
| Urbana | 4.22" | 4.70" | 19.45" | 13.93" | |
| Virginia | 4.52" | 4.33" | 18.97" | 13.18" | |
| Windsor | 1.61" | 3.97" | 14.62" | 12.44" |
Links below are the seasonal 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 that city.
Climate data for other area cities is available at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=ilx
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