CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The statewide average precipitation for May was 4.52 inches, just 0.08 inches below normal. However, heavy rains struck parts of Illinois, causing flooding. Some areas received up to 10 inches of precipitation by the end of the month, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel at the Illinois State Water Survey, University of Illinois.
Areas from Chicago westward, most of far southern Illinois, and McLean County received 5 to 9 inches of precipitation. A few locations received more than 9 inches, including Countryside (Cook County) with 10.56 inches, West Aurora with 9.32 inches, and Aurora with 9.27 inches.
The average temperature in Illinois for May was 62.2 degrees, just 0.5 degrees below normal. This breaks an eight-month streak of above-normal temperatures in Illinois. Underneath the benign numbers were some stretches of cold weather at the beginning and middle of the month before summer-like conditions arrived in the last 10 days of the month. In the end, the warm and cold weather canceled each other out.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center reported five tornadoes in Illinois in May, as well as 35 hail and 86 wind damage reports.
