August and Summer Season Climate Summary -- Record or Near Record Rainfall in Some Areas

August 2016 will go down as being exceptionally wet across much of central and southeast Illinois, with most of the region seeing rainfall at least 5 inches above normal. Some of the highlights:

• The Springfield area was especially hard hit, with an official rainfall total at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport of 10.82 inches. This was the wettest August on record, easily surpassing the old record of 8.37 inches in 1981, and marked the 7th highest rainfall total of any month since records began in 1879.
   
• A total of 5.59 inches fell just on the 12th in Springfield and mostly in only a few hours during the evening, which was the highest total to ever fall in a single calendar day. The total of 3.34 inches that fell between 6 and 7 pm surpassed what would normally fall over the entire month! This rain caused a significant amount of flash flooding over the area, especially at the Illinois State Fairgrounds where the fair had just begun. This was part of an area of heavy rain from storms that tracked over the same area from Springfield northeast into Tazewell County. A total of 8 inches of rain fell near Delavan. 
   
• Additional heavy rain fell in eastern Illinois on the 15-16th, with a widespread 2 to 4 inches in areas from around Danville southwest to Taylorville and Flora.
   
• Heavy rain of 4-6 inches occurred across the northwest parts of Sangamon County on August 28-29 with the highest total at Farmingdale of around 6.8 inches; Capital Airport reported 1.79 inches, but most of Springfield stayed dry during this event. 

 

Meteorological summer consists of the period from June 1 to August 31. While the period started off dry, with many areas south of I-74 seeing below normal rainfall, a wetter pattern set up and much of central and southeast Illinois ended up with above normal rainfall for the 3-month period. Springfield finished with its second wettest summer on record, and summer totals in the top 10 wettest amounts were observed at Effingham, Galesburg, Havana, and Normal as well. Temperatures averaged near or above normal over the area. 

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August Climate Statistics (click here for seasonal statistics):

 

Rainfall and Temperature Maps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Climate Data:

The table below summarizes August rainfall and temperature, and departure from normal for selected cities across central and southeast Illinois. 

Location	Rainfall	vs. Normal	Average  Temp.	vs. Normal	Notes
Charleston	4.81	+1.88	77.9	+3.3
Danville	5.38	+1.90	76.5	+3.0
Decatur	4.95	+1.18	75.9	+0.8
Effingham	5.67	N/A	78.2	N/A
Flora	7.86	+4.72	77.8	+2.7
Galesburg	7.07	+3.10	74.4	+1.7	9th wettest August on record
Havana	7.58	+3.82	N/A	N/A	3rd wettest August on record
Jacksonville	3.81	+0.30	76.2	+0.9
Lincoln	6.44	+2.52	74.6	+1.6	9th wettest August on record
Normal	6.00	+2.20	75.3	+2.8
Olney	7.83	+4.63	77.0	+1.8	Tied 7th wettest August on record
Paris	5.43	+1.52	75.3	+1.5
Peoria	7.45	+3.24	76.4	+2.6	3rd wettest August on record
Springfield	10.82	+7.58	77.4	+3.2	Wettest August on record 7th wettest month all time Wettest calendar day on record (5.59 inches on 12th)
Tuscola	5.35	+2.09	75.5	+1.8
Urbana	4.15	+0.22	76.0	+2.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following links are to 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 -- NWS 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 https://www.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=ilx

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Summer Season (June 1-August 31) Climate Statistics:

 

Rainfall and Temperature Maps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Climate Data:

The table below summarizes seasonal rainfall and temperature, and departure from normal for selected cities across central and southeast Illinois. 

Location	Rainfall	vs. Normal	Average  Temp.	vs. Normal	Notes
Charleston	12.18	+0.43	77.3	+2.7
Danville	17.75	+5.05	75.5	+1.9
Decatur	12.63	+0.38	75.4	+0.4
Effingham	15.44	N/A	77.7	N/A	9th warmest summer on record
Flora	18.78	+7.35	78.0	+2.6
Galesburg	19.37	+6.72	74.0	+1.2	6th wettest summer on record
Havana	18.62	+6.46	N/A	N/A	9th wettest summer on record
Jacksonville	14.35	N/A	76.3	N/A
Lincoln	17.49	+4.19	74.4	+1.0
Normal	17.18	+5.31	74.8	+2.0	9th wettest summer on record
Olney	14.36	+2.64	76.5	+1.5
Paris	15.66	+2.97	74.6	+0.7
Peoria	15.90	+5.28	76.1	+2.4
Springfield	22.26	+10.62	77.3	+3.1	2nd wettest summer on record 5th wettest of any season on record
Tuscola	12.57	+0.11	75.0	+1.0
Urbana	15.71	+2.74	75.0	+1.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following links are to 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 the city.

• Peoria -- Peoria International Airport
• Springfield -- Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport
• Lincoln -- NWS 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 https://www.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=ilx