Chicago area had wettest April on record

With five days to go, the Chicago area already has had the wettest April on record.

The heavy rains that unleashed record flooding in Illinois have helped give the Chicago area another record: wettest April ever.

Last week's storm put many places in Illinois within reach of their highest ever rainfall totals. On Thursday, a modest .07 inches fell at O'Hare and was enough to nudge the Chicago area over a record set in 1947 with a new record of 8.65 inches.

That's according to National Weather Service records.

Weather Service Meteorologist Ed Shimon says many places from Springfield to the north are within their top 10 totals for wettest Aprils.

Shimon says parts of the state “got hammered” by a month and a half's worth of rain in a couple of days during last week's storm, which was slow-moving and packed with moisture.