Rain record set in 1941 could be washed away
CHAMPAIGN – With 7.16 inches of rain reported so far this month at the Illinois State Water Survey station in south Champaign, this is already the fifth-wettest October on record.
And there's "an outside chance," said WILL chief meteorologist Ed Kieser, that the all-time record of 9.01 inches, set in 1941, could be broken.
"It's not likely, but it's not out of the realm of possibility," he said.
One forecast model, Kieser said, shows a rainfall of close to 2 inches today and into Friday morning. That could be a record-breaker.
"That's the last precipitation of the month, but it could be a big one," he said.
Much more likely, Kieser said, is that this would be Champaign-Urbana's second-wettest October. That record now belongs to October 1949 when there was 7.78 inches of rain locally, according to Jim Angel, state climatologist at the Illinois State Water Survey.
"I would say we're going to shatter that second-place showing," he said.
The average October precipitation in C-U is 2.81 inches. So far it has rained on 19 of the first 28 days in October.
Through Wednesday, total precipitation for 2009 was 41.92 inches, according to water survey. The average annual total for C-U is 41.00 inches.
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Counties under flash flood watch. The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for several area counties, from Thursday evening through Saturday morning.
The watch means a flash flood is possible in the area and warns residents to stay alert.
The counties covered by the flash flood watch include Champaign, Coles, Douglas, Edgar, Piatt and Vermilion. Others are Christian, Clark, Clay, Crawford, Cumberland, Effingham, Jasper, Lawrence, Macon, Moultrie, Richland and Shelby.
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