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Illinois October: from record heat to early snow

October brought variable and record-breaking weather to the state of Illinois.

Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford tells Brownfield between October 1^st and 4^th, more than 70 records were broken for daily high temperatures and in the last three days of the month nearly 40 records were broken for daily low temperatures.

He highlights an example from Springfield.

“There was an almost 60-degree difference between the maximum temperature on October 1^st and October 31^st.”

Ford says snow was also scattered across the state ranging from one-tenth of an inch as far south as White County up to 8.5 inches in Stephenson County.

“Temperatures have warmed so most of that snow has melted, but we are really looking at field conditions to see if we can string together enough warm, dry days to have farmers be able to get into their fields and get the crops out.”

The Climate Prediction Center’s 8-14-day outlook shows colder and drier than normal conditions. The outlook for the last two weeks of November switches to above normal temperatures.

The winter outlook from NOAA shows above normal odds for a wetter than normal winter, especially in the northern half of Illinois, which Ford says could cause some issues for planting next spring.