Illinois received 0.20 inches of rain for the month as of September 17, 1.59 inches below the long-term average. Dry weather in August and September has led to low soil moisture across Illinois.

The statewide average rainfall in September was 0.78 inches, 2.45 inches below normal and the 5th driest September on record, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel at the Illinois State Water Survey.

Illinois experienced temperatures close to normal for September. The statewide average temperature was 66.8 degrees, just 0.6 degrees above normal, according to State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey (http://www.isws.illinois.edu).

It was an unseasonably dry and warm start to October across the Midwest.  On average, the Midwest experienced only 23 percent of its normal precipitation during the first 12 days of October, and temperatures were an average of 6 degrees above normal, according to Steve Hilberg at the Midwestern Regional Climate Center at the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS).

November temperatures were well below the long-term average across the state, breaking hundreds of local daily records. The preliminary statewide November average temperature was 35.6 degrees, about 7 degrees below our 30-year normal and tied for the ninth coldest on record.

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).

INHS will host the 100th Annual Meeting of the Illinois State Academy of Science to be held on April 4-5, 2008. Academy members are invited to submit abstract abstracts of papers and posters for presentation in any of the recognized ISAS divisions. For more information on the event and submissions, please visit this website.

INHS Post doctoral researcher Bridget Henning, had a paper published recently looking at market-based conservation in Papua New Guinea. Her research found that although villagers were concerned with the condition of the forest, they placed more emphasis on their relationship with conservationists, expecting conservationists to be present in the village, reciprocate their hospitality, participate in customary ceremonies, and respond to requests for material goods. This research explained that the relationship that maintained the conservation project was not market-based, it was a customary Melanesian exchange relationship that involved material goods, social interactions, and moral obligations.

Illinois State Water Survey hydrogeologist George Roadcap is among those appointed to the Mahomet Aquifer Task Force, which has been charged with protection of the Mahomet Aquifer, a primary source of drinking water for 500,000 Central Illinois residents.

ISTC researcher John Scott led a team of researchers to understand the extent to which PFAS and other contaminants attach to microplastics in waterways.

Gardeners hoping to celebrate the beauty of American bittersweet — a native vine that produces orange berries in the fall and is used for wreaths — may be unwittingly buying an invasive bittersweet instead. That’s because many Midwestern retailers are selling oriental bittersweet with labels misidentifying it as the native plant, researchers report.

The old saying, "if you don't like the weather in Illinois, just wait a minute," was certainly true this winter. Since December 1, Illinois has experienced heavy snows, heavy rains, flooding, and severe weather, including five tornadoes in January. Both precipitation and snowfall totals this winter have been significantly above average for much of the state, according to State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey (http://www.sws.uiuc.edu), a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

INHS Scientists Nohra Mateus-Pinilla and Richard Lampman will partner with the College of Veterinary Medicine to conduct research for the new Upper Midwestern Center for Excellence in Vector Borne Diseases, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The center is headquartered at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The Illinois team will develop forecasting models and statistical spatial risk maps of regionally important mosquitoes and ticks and the diseases that they cause. Using optimization algorithms, historical data on field trapping of mosquitoes and ticks, and other ecological methods, the Illinois team will also help determine the level of surveillance data required to make effective control decisions.

The preliminary statewide average February temperature was 27.2 degrees, 3.0 degrees below the 1991–2020 average and tied for 42nd coldest on record going back to 1895. The preliminary statewide average total February precipitation was 3.41 inches, 1.48 inches above the 1991–2020 average and the 9th wettest on record statewide.  

INHS scientists examined five long-term fish monitoring programs in large rivers in the U.S. They outline best practices in Fisheries Magazine.

The 2015 tornado season thus far in Illinois and the rest of tornado alley is incredibly quiet. However, this quiet start is no reason to relax if the past few years are a guide, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel at the Illinois State Water Survey, University of Illinois.

Researchers in the Illinois Natural History Survey are investigating every aspect of snake fungal disease, hoping to find a treatment.

The statewide average rainfall for Illinois in April was 7.45 inches, nearly double the average rainfall of 3.83 inches for the month. This exceeds the old record of 7.13 inches set in 1957, according to State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey (http://www.isws.illinois.edu).

For the fourth time this year, the monthly statewide precipitation has been above average, resulting in the third wettest January-April since 1895, according to State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey (http://www.sws.uiuc.edu), a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

April was colder than normal in Illinois, with freezing temperatures occurring into mid-month and as far south as St. Louis Metro East, according to Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford at the University of Illinois’ Illinois State Water Survey. Rainfall in April was frequent but averaged near normal statewide for the month.

The wild turkeys have not been cooperating with avian ecologist Christine Parker as she attempts to catch, weigh, measure, and fit them with micro-GPS units to learn about their habits.

Recent rains across Illinois have led to increases in soil moisture levels, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring (WARM) Program Manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois.

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.

Operators of water systems that serve small communities face many challenges:  overcoming compliance issues with few resources and a lack of money to train staff.  That’s where the Illinois State Water Survey’s www.smallwatersupply.org website can help.

A team of University of Illinois researchers, including INHS wildlife veterinary epidemiologist Nohra Mateus-Pinilla and mammalogist Ed Heske, conducted a two-year radio telemetry and activity tracking project on 42 adult cats in Central Illinois to answer that question. They found that pet cats spent only 3 percent of their time engaged in highly active pursuits, such as running or stalking prey while un-owned (feral) cats were highly active 14 percent of the time. Even feral cats stayed near human structures, according to Mateus-Pinilla. The study, "Home range, habitat use, and activity patterns of free-roaming domestic cats" was published in The Journal of Wildlife Management.

The Illinois Natural History Survey's insect systematist, Dr. Sam Heads, has been asked by the Royal Entomological Society to keep a blog as part of the UK National Insect Week. This is an outreach project aimed at raising the profile of entomology.

Monthly statewide precipitation has been above average every month in the first half of 2008, resulting in the wettest January-June since 1895, according to State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey (http://www.sws.uiuc.edu), at the Institute of Natural Resources Sustainability at the University of Illinois.

INHS Forbes Biological Field Station Director Heath Hagy was interviewed by an NBC affiliate about the effects of thousands of dead fish near Havana, IL. The water levels of the lake have been drawn down to improve habitats for migratory birds, resulting in thousands of fish carcasses. While some residents are concerned about the botulism impacting the waterfowl, Hagy states that is unknown because most of the waterfowl will not be back here for several months.

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.

July was warmer and wetter than average across Illinois, continuing a warmer than average summer season. The preliminary statewide average July temperature was 77.2 degrees, 1.8 degrees above the 30-year normal. Preliminary statewide average total precipitation for July was 5.79 inches, 1.71 inches wetter than normal.

Climatologists from the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) are partnering with the American Planning Association in a two-year project to assist five Illinois pilot communities in preparing for more frequent climate extremes using current weather and climate data.

August was slightly cooler and much drier than average across Illinois. The preliminary statewide average August temperature was 72.7 degrees, 0.9 degrees below the 30-year normal and the 45th coolest on record. Preliminary statewide average total precipitation for August was 2.01 inches, 1.58 inches below than the 30-year normal and the 15th driest on record.

Soils are damp across the state at the end of September, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois.

Illinois once harbored more than 8 million acres of wetlands. By the 1980s, all but 1.2 million wetland acres had been lost, filled in for development or drained to make way for agriculture. Now, thanks to a 2023 Supreme Court decision, roughly 72% of the remaining 981,000 acres of Illinois wetlands are no longer protected by the federal Clean Water Act, putting communities at risk of losing the flood control, groundwater recharge, water purification and natural habitat these wetlands provide, researchers report.

What would happen if the rain from Hurricane Harvey that fell in Houston, Texas, hit Chicago? The result would be unlike any rainstorm that Chicago has ever seen, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel.

September 2019 was tied for the fourth-warmest September for Illinois (state average temperatures back to 1895), and the warmest September since 1933. Precipitation varied tremendously from north to south across the state.

The first three weeks of September were extremely dry across much of the Midwest, with the remnants of Hurricane Helene providing drought relief for parts of Illinois, according to Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford at the University of Illinois’ Illinois State Water Survey.

The remains of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike boosted rainfall totals in Illinois for September. September statewide precipitation was 8.0 inches, 4.8 inches above normal and the third wettest September on record, according to State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey (http://www.sws.uiuc.edu).

INHS Wildlife Epidemiologist Nohra Mateus-Pinilla and postdoctoral researchers Mary Beth Manjerovic and Michelle Green conducted research on the effectiveness of culling deer to prevent the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). CWD is a 100% fatal disease in deer, likened to Mad Cow Disease. Their paper compared the culling strategy used in Illinois to the two different management strategies used in Wisconsin over a decade. Listen to the interview on Focus 580.

INHS fisheries biologist Josh Sherwood was featured in a recent Environmental Almanac about the Fishes of Champaign County surveys. Sherwood is conducting the fifth iteration of the surveys that began in 1885. The original Fishes of Champaign County survey was conducted by Stephen A. Forbes between 1885 and 1901 and found 65 species of fishes. A second version of the Fishes of Champaign County was conducted by Forbes and Robert E. Richardson, and added 14 species to the list. R. Weldon Larimore and Phillip W. Smith conducted the third survey in the 1950s and added 9 more species to the list. Larimore and Peter Bayley conducted the fourth survey in 1987 and brought the species list to 94 species of fishes.

October 2021 in Illinois was the eighth warmest and the fourth wettest October on record going back to 1895, according to Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford at the University of Illinois’ Illinois State Water Survey.

Soil temperatures declined through the first half of November, but still remain higher than normal, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring (WARM) Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois.

Research conducted by Dr. Barry Alto, and others, found that small mosquitos are more likely to carry the dengue virus than larger mosquitos. The study fed mosquitos dengue infected blood, and found that the smaller mosquitos had a higher rate of infection when tested. This research was published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. An article discussing the work was also picked up by UPI. Dr. Alto is the director of the Medical Entomology Program at the Illinois Natural History Survey, a division of the University of Illinois' Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability. The full text of the UPI article can be viewed on NewsBank: Small mosquitoes are likely virus carriers and the abstract of the paper can be viewed on the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene site: Size Alters Susceptibility of Vectors to Dengue Virus Infection and Dissemination

Illinois experienced its third wettest and tenth warmest November on record, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel, Illinois State Water Survey, University of Illinois.

November in Illinois was slightly cooler and slightly drier than average, says the Illinois State Climatologist.

According to Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford, November was much warmer and slightly drier than average across Illinois. The preliminary statewide average November temperature was 46.6 degrees, 4.1 degrees above the 30-year normal and tied for the ninth warmest on record. Preliminary statewide average total precipitation for November was 2.94 inches, 0.53 inches less than the 30-year normal, and the 70th driest on record.

Kendall Annetti, an undergraduate student at University of Illinois, has been working on a research project surveying game birds for blood parasites. Under the guidance of INHS Wildlife Epidemiologist Dr. Nohra Mateus-Pinilla, Kendall is completing the research portion of her James Scholar Program experience. The invaluable experiences gained by the many students mentored here at the Illinois Natural History Survey help prepare them for careers in science and beyond.

Nancy Westcott, research climatologist at the Midwestern Regional Climate Center (MRCC), was recently appointed as the North American representative to the Task Team on Climate Data Rescue, initiated by the World Meteorological Organization's Commission for Climatology.

The statewide average temperature in January was 31.4 degrees, 5.0 degrees above normal, and the 14th warmest January on record, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey, University of Illinois.