Winters can be cold, but residents enjoy 4 seasons

Date Modified: 07/01/2009 3:19 PM

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Kankakee County’s Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area has some of the nation’s most diverse systems when it comes to weather, according to statistics compiled, analyzed and gleaned from Cities Ranked and Rated.    

We’re colder than most of the country in January, more humid than most of the country in July, and get twice as many serious snowfalls as the norm.

That means the area is relatively good for those who like to see the four seasons: sprouts of green in the spring, yellowing corn in summer, leaves ablaze in the fall and a white Christmas.

It’s not so great if you dislike shoveling snow or like going for a walk 365 evenings of the year.

Like much of the Midwest, Kankakee County can be in the path of winter Alberta clippers. These are storms that drag moist air off the Pacific and chill it with arctic currents. High pressure prevents it from hitting Southern California. It heads east of the Rockies and descends on us.

Because we’re south of Lake Michigan, as opposed to east of it, we don’t get lake effect snow, but the warm water of the lake also heats lakeshore cities like Chicago, Cleveland and Buffalo in the winter. Winter nights here are colder.

Southern Gulf cities are often cooled in the summertime by regular evening thunderstorms. Kankakee misses out on that, so our summers are somewhat hotter than cities like Savannah, Ga.

Our weather at a glance:

• Average low in January, 10 degrees. The national average is 26.2 degrees.
• Average high in July, 84 degrees, close to the national average of 87.4.
• Annually, Kankakee County has 15 days greater than 90; 145 days of freezing weather (less than 32 degrees); and 14 days when the temperature goes subzero.
• We get 37 inches of snow a year, about 9.3 more than the national average, and we average a dozen snowstorms of 1.5 inches or more — twice the national norm.
• During a typical year, we’ll have 196 days that are mostly sunny. There will be 43 thunderstorms, four more than the national average. Our rainfall is just about the national average.
• The chance of being hit with a tornado-related storm is 5 percent greater than the national average, but the chance of being hit with a hurricane-related storm is 87 percent less than the national average.
• The air quality here, based on a composite of particulates and ozone, is a nifty 30 percent better than the national average.
• Water quality, too, is 16 percent better than the national average among metropolitan areas.

In print

The Daily Journal carries the AccuWeather forecast daily, which gives you the weather five days in advance. The forecast also has a farm report, a weather almanac and the weather for selected U.S. and world cities.

On the web

Log on to www.daily-journal.com for the latest forecast. Click on the weather symbol, which can be found on the right-phand side of the menu bar at the top of the page.