By IRN/Jim Anderson
The numbers are in for 2014, and it was a cold year.
The average temperature in Illinois in 2014 was 49.4 degrees. That’s 2.9 degrees below normal, and it makes the year the fourth coldest here since record-keeping began in 1895.
“It was driven mostly by the really cold temperatures in January, February and March, as well as July and November. Those were the standout months as far as the cold weather goes,” says state climatologist Jim Angel, who calculated the figures Monday afternoon.
Angel says the cold last year was local to the Midwestern United States. The rest of the country and the rest of the world saw temperatures hotter than normal.
As for precipitation, Illinois got 41.3 inches – about an inch more than normal. It was rainy in April, May, June, August, September and October, but November and December were dry.