Drought — Marshall, Illinois

2023-07-01 to 2023-07-18 · Marshall, Illinois

Event narrative

Severe Drought (D2) conditions that developed in June persisted across Marshall County into July, but drought conditions improved during the second half of the month. Through the first half of the month, agricultural stress was common. Some communities had burn bans in effect at the start of the month, but by mid-July burn bans had been lifted.

Wider weather episode

Severe Drought Conditions (D2) that developed in June continued into July across portions of central Illinois, primarily north of I-72. Some burn bans were in effect at the start of the month, and there were increased fire concerns around the July 4 holiday. However, an active pattern brought increased rainfall during the first three weeks of the month, which resulted in improvements to the drought. Most burn bans were lifted by mid-July, and by the end of the month less than 10% of the area, mainly locations to the west of Lincoln, were experiencing severe drought (D2). A hot and dry stretch during the final week of the month resulted in some minor degradation of drought conditions. Locations along and north of I-72 still had summer rainfall deficits of 3 to 7 inches at the end of July.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1116344. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.