2016 ranks among warmest on record in Illinois

Posted on January 17, 2017
thermostat
The average temperature in Illinois was 2.5 degrees above normal in 2016. (Photo by midnightcomm/flickr)

By RFD Radio/WFMB

SPRINGFIELD – Close the book on 2016 as one of the warmest years on record.

State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey said the past year was the fifth warmest on record. Overall it was about 2.5 degrees warmer than normal. Angel said some of that warmth was due to El Nino and a warm run in the middle of winter.

“Those tend to give us fairly mild winter conditions, so very warm temperatures and on the dry side,” Angel said. “As far of the year (is concerned), it kind of stayed warm.”

A wet few months in the late summer was got the state to just below normal when it came to precipitation.

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