Climate
Illinois has a continental climate, with large temperature extremes not moderated by either mountains or oceans. Weather is influenced primarily by cold Canadian Arctic air in the winter, and warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico in the summer. High temperatures in the south of the state are about 10 to 12 °F. warmer than the north. Average annual temperature is 47 °F. in the north and 58 °F. in the south. Temperatures greater than 90 °F. occur about 45 days per year in the south, and 12 days per year in the north. Temperatures below zero °F. occur one day or less per year in the south, and 12 days per year in the north. Annual rainfall is 34 inches (860 mm) in the north and 46 inches (1,200 mm) in the south.
Prevailing winds are from the west. Average wind speeds "blowing off the prairie" are greater in the Chicago area. Statewide, the wind speeds average 8 to 12 miles per hour (13 to 19 km/h),and is greater in the winter than in summer.
Snowfall averages 30 inches (760 mm) in the north and 10 inches (250 mm) in the south, although the actual snowfalls vary greatly by year. In some years, southern Illinois receives very little snowfall, and may never get typical winter weather.
Most of the state has four distinct seasons. The southernmost part of the state is heavily forested and the trees are noted for having beautiful fall colors.
Tornadoes are a common hazard, primarily in the central part of the state, with peak months in June and April. Freezing rain is most common in central Illinois.
Read more about this topic: Geography Of Illinois
Famous quotes containing the word climate:
“Certainly parents play a crucial role in the lives of individuals who are intellectually gifted or creatively talented. But this role is not one of active instruction, of teaching children skills,... rather, it is support and encouragement parents give children and the intellectual climate that they create in the home which seem to be the critical factors.”
—David Elkind (20th century)
“Then climate is a great impediment to idle persons; we often resolve to give up the care of the weather, but still we regard the clouds and the rain.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The question of place and climate is most closely related to the question of nutrition. Nobody is free to live everywhere; and whoever has to solve great problems that challenge all his strength actually has a very restricted choice in this matter. The influence of climate on our metabolism, its retardation, its acceleration, goes so far that a mistaken choice of place and climate can not only estrange a man from his task but can actually keep it from him: he never gets to see it.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)