Illinois climate and weather experts say the state saw drier and warmer than normal conditions during September.
Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel with the Illinois Water Survey says statewide average rainfall during September was nearly 2 1/2 inches below normal. It was the fifth-driest September on record. The water survey says the only wet areas were near the Quad Cities and a few spots along the Ohio River due to remnants of Hurricane Harvey. The U.S. Drought Monitor classified nearly 80% of Illinois as "abnormally dry."
Statewide the average September temperature for Illinois was 68.7 degrees, 2.5 degrees above normal. That's thanks to a late-season heat wave in the second half of the month that brought temperatures as high as 98 degrees in Effingham and Neoga on Sept. 23.
