Winter 2021-2022 Climate Recap

Winter (December-February) 2021-2022 Precipitation Highlights:

The 2021-2022 winter season produced above normal precipitation south of I-72, with below normal precipitation north of I-72. Lawrence county in far southeast IL was 2-4 inches above normal for precipitation. Areas northwest of the IL river were 1-2 inches below normal for precipitation. January was generally the drier of the 3 winter months with February being the wettest of the these three months. In fact, Lincoln came in with the 8th wettest February on record.

Winter (December-February) 2021-2022 Snowfall Highlights:

Snowfall was well below normal over central and southeast IL during December and January. February on the other hand was in the top 5 snowiest Februarys on record in central IL with several areas receiving 1 to 2 feet of snow. Much of this came with two major winter storms on Feb 2-3 and Feb 17. Overall for the winter season, eastern IL and areas north of Peoria were below normal for snowfall, while the rest of central IL had above normal snowfall with most of it falling in the month of February.

Winter (December-February) 2021-2022 Temperature Highlights:

Near to slightly below normal temperatures were observed during the 2021-2022 winter season across central IL, with above normal temperatures in southeast parts of the state. December was a very mild month across central and southeast IL, with many cities being in the top 5 warmest Decembers. January and February were generally 3-5 degrees colder than normal.

Winter 2021-2022 Climate Statistics

Site	Precipitation	Departure from Normal	Snowfall	Departure from Normal	Average Temperature	Departure from Normal
Canton	4.93"	-0.51"	17.6"	+5.7	N/A	N/A
Danville	7.92"	+0.48"	11.2"	N/A	30.3	-0.2
Decatur	6.42"	-0.38"	15.7"	+3.8"	30.4	+0.4
Effingham	9.93"	+1.42"	7.2"	N/A	N/A	N/A
Flora	10.26"	+1.51"	4.0"	N/A	34.3	+1.3
Galesburg	4.69"	-1.01"	21.2"	-0.3"	25.0	-0.2
Jacksonville	6.20"	-0.38"	15.4"	N/A	29.4	-0.1
Lincoln	5.95"	-0.43"	21.6"	+4.8"	29.5	+0.2
Morton	5.60"	-0.89"	22.9"	+3.5"	N/A	N/A
Normal	5.44"	-1.28"	19.4"	+2.8"	27.6	0.0
Olney	11.47"	+1.88"	6.4"	-2.5"	34.1	+1.9
Paris	9.02"	+1.03	7.5"	-8.7"	30.9	+2.5
Peoria	5.03"	-1.23"	27.9"	+7.1"	28.8	+0.0
Springfield	4.66"	-1.45"	20.9"	+3.8"	31.7	+0.6
Taylorville	5.92"	-0.80"	12.7"	N/A	30.7	N/A
Tuscola	7.54"	+0.50	12.9"	-0.7"	29.9	+0.8
Urbana	6.62"	-0.27"	17.5	+0.4"	29.0	+0.1

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.

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 area cities is available at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=ilx

The webpage summaries for each month of Winter 2021-22 can be found at the links below:

Records

Peoria
- 3rd warmest December with mean temperature of 39.5F
- 4th snowiest February with 19.2 inches of snow
- 10th snowiest winter season (Dec-Feb) with 27.9 inches of snow
Springfield
- 3rd warmest December with mean temperatures 41.9F
- 4th snowiest February with 18.3 inches of snow
Lincoln
- 2nd warmest December with mean temperatures of 40.1F
- 2nd snowiest February with 20.3 inches of snow
- 8th wettest February with 3.35 inches of precipitation

Look Ahead:

Official Spring (March to May 2022) outlooks from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center favor above normal precipitation and temperatures across all of Illinois.