Illinoisans wore galoshes more often than snow boots in December - and barely broke out the parkas. State climatologist Jim Angel says the average statewide temperature in December was 35.7 degrees - almost 6 degrees above 
average.

That's the ninth-warmest December since the state began  keeping records in 1895. The highest temperature was 67 in Cairo on Dec. 5.  All that warm weather naturally meant less snow - although rainfall was above average, with 7.70 inches recorded at Brookport Dam. 

The biggest snowfall recorded in December was 4 inches in Stockton in far northwestern Illinois. That compares to less than an inch in southeastern Illinois and 1 to 2 inches everywhere else. Last winter, much of Illinois had gotten 10 to 25 inches of snow by mid-December.