Weather cooperates for area farmers

After an uncooperative and wet October, Bureau County farmers are finally making some good headway in the fields.

One week ago, only 19 percent of the corn crop out of the fields in Illinois, which is far below the five-year average of 86 percent. The soybeans were 35 percent harvested, compared to the five-year state average of 92 percent for the first week in November. However, those numbers are expected to increase significantly, thanks to the recent dry spell.

According to Illinois Climatologist Jim Angel, October 2009 was the second wettest October in at least the last 104 years. State records, which have been kept since 1895, show the wettest October happened in 1941, when rainfall reached 9.2 inches.

Angel said the statewide average rainfall for October 2009 was 8.9 inches, which is six inches above normal. Rainfall was heaviest in southern Illinois with many places reporting 8 to 12 inches for the month. In Princeton, Mike Eggers, superintendent for the city’s water treatment plant, said his department recorded 6.71 inches of rain for October.

Temperatures across Illinois were also cooler than normal in October, Angel said. Statewide, October temperatures averaged at 49.8 degrees, which is 4.8 degrees below normal. In Princeton, the lowest high temperature for October was 42 degrees, reached on Oct. 15, Eggers said.

Meteorologist Anthony Peoples with WQAD News 8, said things are definitely looking up so far in November as far as rain and temperatures ... at least for now.

“The drastic change in our weather from October continues on into the middle of November,” Peoples said Monday. “The much advertised El Nino has put winter on hold this month as temperatures are running more than five degrees above average, and we’ve now gone nine days without measurable rain in the Quad Cities area.”

Having a dry period is not all that uncommon in early November, Peoples said. From a climatological standpoint, November is the fourth driest month of the year, with only December, January, and February being drier. The reason for that dryer weather is that much of the precipitation that falls during those months is in the form of snow, which has a lower water content than rain. As a generalization, about 10 inches of snow melts down to an inch of water, Peoples said.