CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The statewide average temperature for December was 24.0 degrees, which is 5.8 degrees below normal. This ranks as the 12th coldest December on record, according to State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey (http://www.isws.illinois.edu).

The highest temperature for the month was reported at Carbondale with 65 degrees on December 31. The lowest temperature for the month was reported at both Stockton and Elizabeth with -10 degrees on December 14 and 15, respectively.

Snowfall was above normal throughout the state in December and heaviest in a band from northwest into east-central Illinois. Snowfall totals for December include 20.4 inches in Champaign-Urbana (snowiest December on record), 18.1 inches in Bloomington-Normal (second snowiest December on record), and 19.2 inches in Peoria (third snowiest December on record). Champaign-Urbana beat both Rockford (19.2 inches) and the Chicago O’Hare Airport (16.2 inches) on snowfall totals.

The largest snowfall total reported in the state was 30.0 inches near Galena. Streator reported 28.5 inches.

Even though snowfall was above average in most locations, the average statewide precipitation was only 1.8 inches, 0.9 inch below normal. Precipitation is a combination of rainfall and the water content of any snow.

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