November was 4th-coldest on record in Illinois

CHAMPAIGN - There's a reason you pulled out the parka last month.

Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel says November's statewide average temperature was 34.2 degrees - 8.2 degrees below average.

That's the fourth-coldest November on record. The record was set in November 1976, when the average temperature was 33.4 degrees.

The state also was unusually dry, averaging just under 2 inches of precipitation in November. That's about 1 ½ inches below average.

Angel says that's not a cause for concern because of wetter-than-average conditions in August, September and October.

When it came to snow last month, Angel says many areas in southern Illinois saw more snow than areas in central and northern Illinois. Two to 5 inches fell south of Interstate 70, compared to less than 2 inches north of the interstate.