Will a Warm September Lead into a Warm October?

It the posts below, we discussed that September was very, very close to being a record warm September. As mentioned, this September in Rockford ended up being the 2nd warmest on record (records go back to the early 1900's). The average for the month is 63.9°, but this year the month's average made it to 69.3°. This equates to about 5.4° above the average(the average of highs and lows for the month)!

Now, the Climate Prediction Center has released it's outlook for the month of October, and the warming trend looks to continue. Most of the United States looks to see above average temperatures for the month yet again. There are only a few locations that look to have a 50/50 shot at an average month.

The darker the orange shade, the higher the probability of an above average monthly temperature. You can see the Stateline area is bisected by two darker oranges, overall the probability of an overall warmer month looks fairly high.

In terms of a precipitation outlook there are no big signs that show we will see above or below normal rain this month. However, southern Illinois looks to be a bit drier, while the northwest is showing signs of a wetter month.