NCDC: Climate of 2003 - March

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Climate of 2003 - March
Illinois Drought

National Climatic Data Center, 15 April 2003

Precipitation for March generally averaged below normal for Illinois. This month marked the fifth consecutive month with state-averaged precipitation at or below normal. Conditions over the last seven months have resulted in the sixth driest September-March on record.

As noted by the Illinois State Climatologist (Dr. Jim Angel) in an April 2 Soil Moisture Summary (pdf file, WordPerfect file), soil moisture in Illinois near the surface at the end of March was slightly below normal to above normal; however, soils in parts of central and northern Illinois were considerably drier with depth.

Statewide Precipitation Ranks
for Illinois , 2002-2003
Period	Rank
Mar	27^th driest
Feb-Mar	31^st driest
Jan-Mar	10^th driest
Dec-Mar	13^th driest
Nov-Mar	10^th driest
Oct-Mar	10^th driest
Sep-Mar	6^th driest
Aug-Mar	15^th driest
Jul-Mar	10^th driest
Jun-Mar	14^th driest
May-Mar	33^rd driest
Apr-Mar	41^st driest

Click here for graphic showing Illinois statewide precipitation departures, January 1998 - present

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Click here for graphic showing Illinois statewide Palmer Z Index, January 1998 - present

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Click here for graphic showing Illinois statewide precipitation, March 1895-2003

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Click here for graphic showing Illinois statewide Palmer Hydrological Drought Index, January 1900 - March 2003

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NCDC / Clim. Monitoring / Climate-2003 / Mar / U.S. Regional Drought / Search / Help

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