CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Following the warmest spring on record, June continued to be hot and dry in Illinois, according to State Climatologist Jim Angel at the Illinois State Water Survey, University of Illinois.

The statewide average temperature for the month was 72.9 degrees, a full degree above normal.

“There were a few cool periods during the month, but everyone will remember the hot ending to the month with highs in the upper 90s and low 100s,” Angel said.  “About 56 sites broke daily records on June 28 and 29.”

Although the month was warm, it was far behind the hottest June on record in Illinois, which was 1934 with a state-wide average temperature of 78.5 degrees.

Every month this year has had above normal temperatures. As a result, the statewide average of 52.8 degrees for the past six months is the warmest on record. This average exceeds the previous record set for the first six months of 1921 when the statewide average temperature was 52.1 degrees.

The statewide average precipitation for June was 1.8 inches, which is 2.3 inches below normal and 43 percent of normal. It was the eighth driest June on record. June 1988 was the driest on record at 1.1 inches.

The statewide average precipitation for the first half of 2012 was 12.6 inches, making it the sixth driest on record. The precipitation average in the first half of 1988 was slightly lower at 12.0 inches. The driest January–June was 1934 with only 10.3 inches. Statewide records go back to 1895.

The Illinois State Water Survey at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a division of the Prairie Research Institute, is the primary agency in Illinois concerned with water and atmospheric resources.