February and Winter Climate Summary

February Precipitation Highlights:

February was another dry month for much of the area. However, locally heavy rain affected east central and southeast Illinois on Feb. 27-28, when 1-2" totals were reported along and southeast of a Taylorville to Decatur to Champaign line. This pushed monthly totals near to slightly above normal for this part of the state. Farther northwest, deficits of a few tenths to around a half inch were common.
A significant winter storm affected the area on Feb 15th, bringing accumulating snow to the entire area, heaviest over southeast IL where up to 1 foot was reported. This, combined with a few minor snow events earlier in the month pushed monthly snow totals well above normal, and as high as 12-16". This put several sites in their Top 10 snowiest February, with Peoria having its 8th snowiest February and Lincoln was 10th snowiest February.

Feb 2021 Precipitation Departure from Normal Central IL

February Temperature Highlights:

After near to slightly above normal temperatures for the first few days of the month, bitterly cold air moved in on the 5th and persisted through the 20th. Daily average temperatures of 20 to 30 degrees below normal were common during this stretch, which included several record low high temperatures. A warmup for the last week of February pushed temperatures several degrees above normal, but monthly averages were still 8 to 12 degrees below normal. This put several sites in the Top 10 coldest February, with Lincoln having its 8th coldest February.

February 2021 Climate Statistics:

Site	Precipitation	Departure from Normal	Snowfall	Departure from Normal	Average Temperature	Departure from Normal
Charleston	NA	NA	10.9	+6.5"	NA	NA
Danville	2.25"	+0.04"	11.0"	+6.1"	22.2	-9.2
Decatur	1.78"	-0.22"	6.9"	+2.7"	21.6	-10.6
Effingham	2.54"	+0.04"	9.5"	NA	NA	NA
Flora	4.42"	+1.78"	12.5"	+9.0"	25.6	-8.2
Galesburg	1.03"	-0.60"	16.0"	+10.0"	16.1	-10.0
Jacksonville	1.82"	-0.11"	9.0"	+4.4"	19.9	-10.6
Lincoln	1.78"	-0.04"	13.6	+7.8	20.2	-10.2
Normal	1.45"	-0.48"	15.1"	+10.0"	18.6	-9.3
Olney	3.83"	+1.10"	16.5"	+13.2"	24.7	-8.5
Paris	NA	NA	10.8"	+4.9"	20.5	-9.8
Peoria	1.35"	-0.44"	14.7"	-8.5"	19.5	-10.0
Springfield	1.75"	-0.06"	10.8"	+5.3"	21.4	-9.8
Tuscola	2.62"	+0.42"	13.9"	+9.5"	21.0	-8.1
Urbana	2.24"	+0.11"	12.5"	+6.7"	20.7	-8.3

The following links are the monthly climate summaries for area cities. Only the summaries for Peoria, Springfield, and Lincoln are considered "official", meaning they are the station of record for their respective locations. The other summaries are "supplemental", meaning another location in the area is the official climate station for the city.

Peoria -- Peoria International Airport
Springfield -- Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport
Lincoln -- National Weather Service Office
Champaign -- University of Illinois-Willard Airport
Decatur -- Decatur Airport
Lawrenceville -- Lawrenceville-Vincennes International Airport
Mattoon -- Coles County Memorial Airport

Climate data for other cities is available at http://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=ilx

March 2021 Look Ahead:

Official outlooks from NOAA's Climate Predication center, show above normal temperatures (left image) and above normal precipitation (right image) favored across the area.

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Winter Season Overview

Seasonably mild temperatures with little in the way of snowfall was common across central and southeast IL for much of December and January. Winter conditions returned with a vengeance during February, when snowfall was well above normal and temperatures were 8-12 degrees below normal. While overall liquid equivalent precipitation was well below normal, seasonal snowfall varied from a few inches below normal to a few inches above normal across the area. Temperatures averaged over the 3-month period averaged about 1 degree colder than normal.

Winter Season: Precipitation, Temperature, and Departure from Normal Maps

Winter 2020-21 Precipitation Departure from Normal Central IL

Winter 2021 (DEC-FEB) Climate Statistics:

Site	Precipitation	Departure from Normal	Snowfall	Departure from Normal	Average Temperature	Departure from Normal
Charleston	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
Danville	6.43"	-0.82"	13.3"	-1.4"	28.6	-1.2
Decatur	6.46"	-0.46"	15.7"	-3.2"	27.9	-2.4
Effingham	7.13"	-1.21"	12.0"	NA	NA	NA
Flora	9.78"	+0.66"	15.0"	NA	31.3	-0.6
Galesburg	4.79"	-0.62"	18.2"	-1.4"	23.5	-1.2
Jacksonville	4.38"	-1.40"	11.7"	-2.6"	27.6	-1.3
Lincoln	6.23"	-0.16"	22.0"	+4.1"	27.4	-1.1
Normal	4.51"	-2.25"	20.7"	+3.4"	25.4	-1.1
Olney	9.61"	-0.05"	19.8"	+9.6"	30.7	-1.0
Paris	NA	NA	13.8"	-6.5"	27.3	-1.6
Peoria	5.30"	-0.69"	24.2"	+4.0"	26.7	-0.9
Springfield	6.08"	-0.07"	20.4"	+2.9"	28.3	-1.1
Tuscola	5.92"	-1.32"	19.6"	+4.4"	27.5	-0.4
Urbana	5.14'	-1.77"	18.9"	-0.3"	27.0	-0.6

Links below are the seasonal climate summaries for area cities. Only the summaries for Peoria, Springfield and Lincoln are considered "official", meaning they are the station of record for their respective locations. The other summaries are "supplemental", meaning another location in the area is the official climate station for that city.

Peoria -- Peoria International Airport
Springfield -- Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport
Lincoln -- Lincoln NWS office
Champaign -- University of Illinois - Willard Airport
Decatur -- Decatur Airport
Lawrenceville -- Lawrenceville-Vincennes International Airport
Mattoon -- Coles County Airport

Climate data for other area cities is available at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=ilx

Slight Risk for Excessive Rainfall and Severe Thunderstorms Thursday

February and Winter Climate Summary