Climate experts: Illinois records 3rd-wettest May on record

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - State climate experts say Illinois had the third wettest May on record and it was the sixth-consecutive month with above-average rainfall.

The Illinois State Climatologist Office says preliminary average statewide precipitation during May was 8.4 inches (21.3 centimeters), 3.8 inches (9.7 centimeters) above the long-term average. The office says nearly the entire state had above-average precipitation for the month. A gauge in Dallas City along the Mississippi River in western Illinois registered the highest precipitation total for May at 14.75 inches (37.5 centimeters).

An area that stretches from Quincy and the Quad Cities east to Peoria had the most precipitation in the state, with seven rain gauges having 13 inches (33 centimeters) or more of rainfall during May.

Chicago had its wettest May on record at 8.25 inches (20.1 centimeters) of precipitation. That beats the previous record of 8.21 inches (20.9 centimeters) last May.