CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – November in Illinois was both cooler and drier than normal. However, a low-pressure system at the end of the month brought the first significant snowfall of the season across northern and central Illinois, according to State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey (http://www.isws.illinois.edu).

Between 1 and 5 inches of snow fell across the northern two-thirds of Illinois between the evening of November 29 and the morning of December 1. The heaviest amounts were in the Bloomington-Normal area with two sites reporting 8 inches. The arrival date of this first major snow event fits the historical pattern.

"Typically, the average date of the first measureable snowfall is late November in northern Illinois, late November to early December in central Illinois, and mid-December for southern Illinois," says Angel.

Statewide precipitation for the month totaled 1.51 inches, 1.81 inches below normal. The statewide average temperature was 40.4 degrees, 1.3 degrees below normal.

This year is still on track to becoming one of the wettest years on record despite the dry November. The January-November precipitation total was 46.2 inches, 9.6 inches above normal, and the third wettest January-November on record. Only 1993 and 1927 were wetter with 49.6 and 46.5 inches, respectively.

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