October rainfall in Springfield is already a half-inch ahead of normal with half of the month remaining.

The 3.65 inches of rainfall as of Wednesday is compared with 3.15 inches for a typical October, according to figures from the Illinois State Water Survey in Champaign. September also was unusually wet, with 5.18 inches of rain, compared with 2.9 inches in a normal September.

“In the past 90 days, much of western and central Illinois has been 4 to 8 inches or more above normal,” state climatologist Jim Angel said. “That’s one to two months of extra rain in the last 90 days.”

September and the first half of October also were slightly cooler than normal, Angel said.

Wet weather continues to cause problems for Illinois farmers. A weekly survey by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found a little more than one-third of the corn crop has been harvested, compared with the five-year average of 54 percent.

The soybean harvest was 29 percent complete, compared with the five-year average of 52 percent. Farmers still rated 83 percent of corn and 79 percent of soybeans in good to excellent condition.

A tornado that touched down Monday near Moweaqua, about 40 miles southeast of Springfield, flattened corn and soybeans, according to a storm summary released Wednesday by the National Weather Service in Lincoln.

Source - http://www.sj-r.com/