February brought cold and first substantial snowfall to winter in Illinois

February brought the first snowstorms of the winter, with colder temperatures and higher precipitation than normal in Illinois, according to Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford at the University of Illinois’ Illinois State Water Survey.

The preliminary statewide average February temperature was 27.2 degrees, 3 degrees below the 1991–2020 average.

February average temperatures ranged from the low 20s in northern and north-central Illinois to the high 30s in far southern Illinois, between 1 and 6 degrees below the 1991–2020 normal. Several stations saw daily high temperatures in the high 60s...