CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Soil temperatures remained below freezing across most of Illinois during the first five days of March, Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring (WARM) Program Manager at the Prairie Research Institute, Illinois State Water Survey, University of Illinois.

Soil temperatures across the state at depths of 4 inches under sod averaged 33.7 degrees for the period of December through February.  However, the average was slightly elevated due to higher December temperatures.  For February, the average statewide temperature was 31.6 degrees.

Soil temperatures varied greatly across the state.  Southern Illinois had an average soil temperature at 4 inches of 36.2 degrees for the period, 4 degrees higher than that for the northern portion of the state.  The coldest temperature was seen in west central Illinois at Monmouth, which averaged 26.6 degrees for December through February.

Low soil temperatures were also measured at 8 inches under sod with a statewide average of 33.4 degrees for the same period.

The lower temperatures continued into the first five days of March with soil temperatures at 4 inches under sod averaging 31.6 degrees statewide.  Temperatures at 8 inches averaged 30.8 degrees.

Hourly soil temperatures are collected by the Illinois State Water Survey’s Illinois Climate Network at 19 stations throughout the state, and can be found at the WARM website (http://www.isws.illinois.edu/warm/soiltemp.asp).

Daily and monthly summaries are also available at the website as well as in the Illinois Water and Climate Summary (http://www.isws.illinois.edu/warm/climate.asp).