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Wet October-November
recorded
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[DEC. 10, 2004]
How wet was it? "With a
10.03-inch precipitation total, October-November in Illinois is the
fourth-wettest such period since 1895, 62 percent above normal,"
said Jim Angel, state climatologist with the
Illinois State Water Survey, a
division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
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"Although Illinois had the
eighth-wettest November (4.98 inches, 50 percent above normal) and
the seventh-wettest October since 1895, fall precipitation is only
15 percent above normal (10.84 inches compared to the normal 9.41
inches). That's because September was the fourth-driest on record,"
Angel continued. Temperatures
for November and fall, while still impressive, aren't quite as
extraordinary as the precipitation totals. The average statewide
temperature for November, 45.1 degrees F, is 3.4 degrees above
normal, the 14th-warmest November since 1895. After a cool summer,
fall temperatures statewide are 1.8 degrees above normal, the
18th-warmest fall since 1895.
Extremes ranged from 86 degrees at
Grand Tower, in southern Illinois, on Nov. 1 to 9 degrees at
Monmouth, in western Illinois, on Nov. 25. Pittsfield had the
highest one-day precipitation total, 3.46 inches on Nov. 1; and
Waterloo had the highest monthly total, 7.84 inches.
A pre-Thanksgiving storm dumped 2-8
inches of snow across central and northern Illinois on Nov. 24,
delaying travel. Normal November snowfall ranges from less than an
inch in southern Illinois to 1 to 2 inches in central and northern
Illinois.
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this article]
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No injuries resulted from two small
tornadoes on Nov. 1. There was little damage near Sparta from the
first storm. The second storm tore roofs from three barns, destroyed
a fourth barn and damaged a house near Sidney. "Unofficially, this
brings the number of tornadoes reported in Illinois this year to 69,
still much lower than last year's record number of 120," Angel said.
The National Weather Service outlook
for December calls for a slightly increased chance of precipitation
above normal with an even chance of temperatures above normal,
normal or below normal. The long-range forecast still calls for an
increased chance of a drier-than-normal winter in Illinois with an
even chance of temperatures above normal, normal or below normal.
"The current moderate El Niņo event
in the Pacific Ocean is very similar to El Niņo conditions last
November. What followed was an Illinois winter with temperatures
near normal but precipitation slightly below normal," Angel added.
[Eva Kingston, editor,
Illinois State Water Survey]
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