Illinois State Water Survey Illinois State Climatologist

El Nino and the Midwest

NOAA has released a new 2-page fact sheet on El Niño and the Midwest (links below). Several people in the Midwest had input into this, including myself. El Niño typically results in warmer and drier than average winters. Confidence in these patterns is higher during stronger El Niño events. Right now the NOAA Climate Prediction Center […]

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New Spring Outlook – Warmer and Wetter for Illinois

The NWS Climate Prediction Center has released the new outlooks for March as well as March-May. One of the key things to come into play is the status of La Niña in the Pacific Ocean. A La Niña event occurs when ocean temperatures are colder-than-normal along the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean basin. The […]

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Updated Forecast for December and Winter

CPC forecast

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center has come out with a new forecast for December and for December-February (winter). This is part of their routine update cycle. December The outlook for December in Illinois calls for an increased chance of above normal temperatures.  An increased chance of above normal temperatures translates into just a few degrees above […]

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