Minonk, Illinois

... Preliminary 2009 weather highlights across central and southeast
Illinois...


Winter season -- December 2008 through February 2009...

- temperatures... below normal.
- Precipitation... above normal.

Temperatures -- unseasonably mild weather overspread the area just
after Christmas... with highs well into the 60s on December 26-27.
The first couple weeks of January were also warmer than normal...
but some of the coldest weather in over 10 years affected portions
of central Illinois by mid-month. Altona... located northeast of
Galesburg... saw lows as cold as 29 degrees below zero on the 16th...
with daytime highs staying well below zero. Peoria had a low of 21
below zero on the 16th... its coldest temperature since 1994.
Significantly warmer weather affected much of the area the first
half of February... with average temperatures as much as 30 degrees
above normal on the 7th... when highs reached the upper 60s west of
I-55.

Weather -- a major ice storm struck areas north of I-72 on December
18-19... with a quarter to 3/4 inch of ice... causing many power
outages. More freezing rain fell days later on the 23-24th.

A squall line raced east across central and southeast Illinois the
afternoon of December 27... producing nearly 3 dozen reports of wind
damage. Heavy rains of 1 to 2 inches caused river flooding which
lasted through the end of the year.

A major winter storm affected southeast Illinois from January 26-
28... with a large area south of I-70 receiving 9 to 13 inches of
snow. This particular storm produced devastating amounts of ice... 1
to 2 inches thick... near the Ohio River.


Spring season -- March through may...

- temperatures... . near normal in central Illinois...
                    above normal in east central/southeast Illinois.
- Precipitation... above normal.

Temperatures -- the Spring started out with warmer than normal
temperatures for March... but was close to normal in April and may.
Temperatures swung quite a bit in March... reaching the mid to
upper 70s by the 6th in many areas south of I-72... after sub-
freezing highs just a couple days earlier. Highs reached the mid to
upper 80s from April 24-26... setting some records in a few areas.
Another significant warm spell occurred the last week of may... with
highs in the 80s to lower 90s.

Weather -- severe weather affected a large portion of central
Illinois on March 8. Two tornadoes occurred... one southwest of
Springfield near Loami... and another near the Lawrenceville
Airport... which also reported a wind gust of 91 mph. Extensive wind
damage occurred on the northwest side of Springfield... due to
downburst winds estimated to be from 90 to 100 mph. After the severe
weather moved through... gradient winds behind a strong cold front
gusted from 40 to 65 mph for a few hours across the region.

Major flooding occurred on the Illinois River in mid March... after
heavy rainfall occurred. Henry had its 3rd highest crest on record
on the 13th... at 31.52 feet... while Peoria saw its 4th highest crest
on record. There were several other days with heavy rain in March...
and this amounted to double the normal March precipitation totals
for much of the northern half of the state. Peoria saw its wettest
March on record... with a total of 7.49 inches.

Excessive rainfall occurred during the middle of may... especially
west of I-55. Amounts of 2 to 6 inches occurred over a 4 day
period... highest northwest of the Illinois River. Near record river
stages occurred on the spoon river... cresting 9 to 10 feet above
flood stage. Three levees were breached in Fulton County near
Blyton... causing significant flooding and the closure of state
highways 9 and 116. Two people were killed when they drove around
barricades and were swept into the spoon river.


Summer season -- June through August...

- temperatures... . below normal.
- Precipitation... above normal.

Temperatures -- Canadian airmasses repeatedly affected the Midwest
throughout the Summer. The jet stream pattern kept much of central
and southeast Illinois cooler than normal through July and August...
with the number of 90 degree days significantly lower than normal.
Bloomington saw its 2nd coolest Summer on record... with an average
temperature of only 69.6 degrees... with Lincoln seeing its 3rd
coolest Summer with an average of 70.3 degrees. Records for coolest
July on record were established at Peoria with 70.7 degrees... and
Lincoln with 69.4 degrees... with Springfield just missing its
record.

Weather -- several severe weather outbreaks occurred during the
period. The major one was a tornado outbreak on August 19... which
produced 7 tornadoes along and north of the I-72 corridor. The
strongest of these... rated EF-3 intensity... touched down in
Williamsville in far northern Sangamon County... then moved northeast
through Logan County before dissipating near Beason. Additionally...
an EF-2 tornado tracked across southern Sangamon and extreme
southeast Morgan counties... affecting Loami.

A significant wind event occurred the morning of August 4... as a Bow
echo of severe thunderstorms raced eastward across central Illinois
between 6 and 11 am. Widespread wind damage occurred... especially
in Fulton and Vermilion counties. Additionally... an early morning
outbreak on June 18 produced 60 to 85 mph winds from the Galesburg
area southeast to the Indiana border near I-70... with additional
severe storms the next day affecting nearly the exact same areas.

River stages on the Illinois River... portions of which had been
above flood stage since mid February... finally fell below flood
stage during the Summer. Peoria had 89 straight days where the
river was in flood... from March 9 through June 5... setting a record.
Havana and Beardstown fell below flood stage on July 8... ending a
streak of about 145 days of being in flood... 4th longest on record.


Autumn season -- September through November...

- temperatures... . near normal.
- Precipitation... above normal.

Temperatures -- while September was near normal temperature wise...
October was cooler than normal and November much warmer than
normal. Springfield reported its 6th warmest November on record...
and Peoria its 7th warmest. Highs reached the mid to upper 70s as
late as November 8.

Weather -- an extended period of dry weather affected the area from
Labor Day through September 19... and was the longest dry period
across much of the area this year. Some locally heavy rainfall
occurred by the 20th... where the Jacksonville area received nearly 5
inches of rain in a few hours. However... the main story was the
excessively wet October. Rainfall amounts in excess of 8 inches
were common... and several locations received over 10 inches for the
month. Records for wettest October were established in Bloomington
at 10.18 inches... and Decatur at 10.09 inches. River flooding was
common due to these rains... and in some cases continued into
November. The Illinois River crested 9 feet above flood stage at
Havana and Beardstown from November 6-7.

A cutoff low lingered over the area during the middle of November...
resulting in rainfall totals over 3 inches from about the I-72
corridor southwest to St Louis. This caused renewed river flooding...
although crests were not as high as earlier in the month.

Springfield and Lincoln both observed their 4th wettest autumn on
record... with Peoria seeing their 9th wettest.

The first reports of flurries for the season were from Lincoln and
near Peoria on October 11.


Winter season 2009/10 to date -- December 1-15...

- temperatures... . below normal.
- Precipitation... above normal.

Temperatures -- the season began on a mild note... with highs in the
mid to upper 50s common on the 1st. Significantly colder weather
followed the passage of a strong winter storm to our northwest...
with highs on the 10th only reaching the teens in some areas.
Another cold snap at mid month brought lows in the single digits
north of I-74.

Weather -- an intense storm system tracked just to the northwest of
the area early on December 9. Heavy rainfall of 1.5 to 2 inches
occurred in southeast Illinois ahead of this system. The blizzard
conditions associated with this system remained just to the west
and north... although up to 6 inches of snow fell over portions of
Knox County. As the low pulled away from the area... winds gusted
from 45 to 60 mph from mid morning through mid afternoon.


Preliminary statistics for the 35-County Lincoln NWS coverage
area...

* highest temperature -- 98 degrees at Avon on June 24

* lowest temperature -- 29 below zero at Altona on January 17

* most rain in 24 hours -- 4.73 inches at Jacksonville on September
20

* most snow in 24 hours -- 10 inches at Neoga and Flora 5nw on
January 27

* most rain in 1 month -- 13.31 inches at Riverton 4nne in October

* most snow in 1 month -- 14.5 inches at Olney in January

* reported tornadoes -- 18. By ef-scale... ef0=11... ef1=5... ef2=2...
ef3=1. By County -- Sangamon 4... Vermilion 4... Morgan 2... Shelby 2.
One each in Christian... Clay... De Witt... Lawrence... Logan... Mason...
McLean... Peoria... and Scott counties. Note the County total is
higher than 18 due to border crossers.


Specific climatological summaries will be issued on January 1.