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January to May third wettest weather since 1895
By Sharon K. Wolfe
swolfe@pantagraph.com
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BLOOMINGTON -- January through May in Illinois has been the third wettest on record since 1895. Wet conditions mean workers cannot work and don’t get paid, said David Penn, business manager for Laborers Local 362, which has about 600 members.

The January-May statewide total was 22.2 inches, seven inches above average. Only 1898 with 23.1 inches and 1927 with 22.4 inches were wetter, said Jim Angel, state climatologist with the Illinois State Water Survey, in a statement.

“It’s terrible. It’s playing real havoc with our work and our members,” said Penn. “It’s affecting their mental well-being.”

Workers and their families are losing health insurance which is based on hours worked. Lack of work also affects pensions and retirement.

“We’ve got a lot of work that is just dragging,” Penn said, including the new Bloomington fire station on Six Points Road. Soggy ground makes foundation work difficult, if not impossible.

The State Water Survey sampled soil moisture from 19 sites statewide June 1, finding water levels in the top six inches 25 to 75 percent above average.

Penn recently had a call from a contractor seeking 18 people for work. “I think six or seven got to go.”

Just because the sun shines doesn’t mean work goes on because ground has to dry out enough for work to be done, Penn said.

“You can’t grade mud,” he said, adding that working in wet conditions increases injuries like twisted muscles.

While weather most affects people working outside, there’s a domino effect because work has to be done outside a building before other trades people work inside.

The heavy rain led to saturated soils and standing water in many fields.

“Farmers are getting their crops washed out,” Penn said.

The rain benefits some businesses, including Basement De-Watering Systems, which has 300 franchises in the U.S. and other countries.

“Our business is probably 50 percent above a normal year,” said Doryan Konhorst, sales manager for Illinois. They are very busy in the Bloomington-Normal, Decatur, Springfield and Champaign areas with flooded basements.

What amazes him most is people who live years with mold and mildew in their basement before getting an estimate to get work done. “They are sick all the time and they don’t know why.”

Average monthly rainfall in June in Central Illinois is 4 inches. But in the first eight days of June, many areas already had more rain than in a typical month. The range was 3 to 10 inches in Central Illinois, and 1 to 3 inches in Northern and Southern Illinois, Newman in Douglas County had 10.32 inches the first eight days.

It looks like more of the same is on the way. The National Weather Service forecast is above average rain across Central and Northern Illinois and near-normal precipitation in Southern Illinois for the next week.

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Reader comments on this story - 6 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Country Boy wrote on Jun 11, 2008 9:04 AM:

" My yard looks the best it ever has but it can stop raining now so I can enjoy it! "

Rick Reuschel's love child wrote on Jun 11, 2008 8:34 AM:

" Was it just last year when the paper ran the articles showing the low water levels of Lake Bloomington. That article went on to describe how above average levels of rain would be needed to remedy the situation. Let's hear it for La Nina.


Cheers "

Max Sniler wrote on Jun 11, 2008 6:40 AM:

" Yes, just ask any global warming expert. If its too wet, too dry, too hot or too cold - must be GW. Hmmm. Sounds like Illinois weather to me. "

Not so Political wrote on Jun 11, 2008 6:01 AM:

" and i was always told being in the union was a great thing, they could get you work and your life wuould be great. guess that was wrong, go figure. "

Waffle of Justice wrote on Jun 10, 2008 10:48 PM:

" The other Dave: Well a little known fact is that when Al Gore created the internet, the adverse side effect was global warming. "

The other Dave wrote on Jun 10, 2008 10:18 PM:

" It is Al Gore's fault. "
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