Most of Illinois experienced another wet week as a cold front pushed through on Friday and the remains of hurricane Rita moved in on Sunday. The southern half of the state received 1 to 3 inches with locally heavier amounts. Lawrenceville and Lebanon both reported the highest total for the state, 4.21 inches. Far northern Illinois also received 1-2 inches of rain during this time. However, the core of the dry area in western and northern Illinois received the least rainfall with many sites reporting less than in inch of rain. As a result, the hardest hit area of the state has experienced little relief with the rains so far in September. The state-wide precipitation deficit since March 1 stands at 6.85 inches below normal through September 28. This shows some improvement since the state-wide deficit of 7.12 inches at the end of August.

A more detailed analysis of the current situation in Illinois will be available tomorrow in the material prepared for the Drought Response Task Force meeting set for 1:30 pm on Thursday, September 29.