Another dry week in Illinois (June 23-29) leads to a further worsening of conditions in the state. Statewide rainfall this week was 0.26 inches, or 27 percent of normal. The only sizeable rains (1 to 3 inches) occurred in east-central Illinois immediately to the north of Champaign. As a rule-of-thumb, normal precipitation for this time of year is about 1 inch per week. Therefore, any area receiving less than an inch of rain this week has fallen further behind on the precipitation deficit. Since March 1, the state has received only 8.01 inches compared to a normal of 15.22 inches, resulting in a 7.2-inch deficit. Temperatures for the week of June 23-29 were 5 to 9 degrees above normal, adding stress to already dry crops.

 

Over the next two weeks, the National Weather Service is expecting near-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation.

 

Current climate conditions in Illinois can be monitored at:

http://www.sws.uiuc.edu/atmos/statecli/Current/current.htm

 

The next US Drought Monitor map will be released on Thursday at:

http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html

Illinois Drought