December was one of the warmest and driest on record in central Illinois. Some days it hardly felt like winter at all.
Data from the National Weather Service show the average temperature last month was 38.3 degrees in Bloomington-Normal. That tied (with 1963) for the fourth warmest in the Twin Cities since record keeping began in 1893.
Our warmest December was in 2015 at 39.8 degrees.
For the year, Bloomington-Normal ranked in the top 25% of its warmest years on record. Peoria tied for its warmest year since its records began in 1883.
Meteorologist Mike Albano with the National Weather Service office in Lincoln said the milder winter is thanks to an El Niño weather pattern. It's brought in warmer air from the Pacific.
“It’s more of a temperature-type global pattern that we’re associating with the El Niño. We expected to go through the rest of the winter on the warm side,” Albano said.
The Twin Cities only got a trace of snow in December month and is well below its average snowfall for the season (6.5 inches through December).
“We could easily make that back in one snowstorm,” Albano said.
That could happen next week.
The National Weather Service is tracking a potentially powerful winter storm that could hit the Midwest next week.
“We see the models. We see what they are putting out which is a very, very strong – some would call it a powerhouse winter storm system – that would certainly bring impacts to a good chunk of the central U.S.,” Albano said.
Albano said some snow is almost certain, but totals could go anywhere from a half-inch to 10 inches locally.
Weather anxiety
The National Weather Service in Lincoln is hosting a first-time event to help people cope with weather-related anxiety.
“We get a good amount of calls per year, that people are terrified of the weather,” Albano said.
The weather service has also scheduled its first public webinar on storm anxiety. It will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25.
Albano said the event will include tips to handle severe weather, before and after it happens.
The webinar is free, but registration is required.
