CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) – Last month was one of the warmest Septembers on record in Illinois.

State climatologist Jim Angel says September’s average temperature was nearly 71 degrees, or 4.5 degrees above normal. State records go back to 1895. September of this year was tied for sixth place with the year 2005.

The warmest September was a tie between 1933 and 1925 when the statewide average was 72.2 degrees.

Most parts of the state received 3 to 5 inches of rain. Southwestern Illinois was the wettest part of the state with between 5 and 7.5 inches of rain.
The statewide average for September’s rainfall was 3.47 inches, a bit above normal.

Angel works for the Illinois State Water Survey at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a division of the Prairie Research Institute.