I went back and looked at data for the Illinois River to compare to this year and here's what I found. I counted the number of days the Illinois' mean flow was over 700 CFS between November 1st and December 17th for the past 20 years. This year, during that same time frame, the Illinois has hit the mark 10 times. There are two other years (in the past 20) that this has occurred; in 2008 and in 1991. But the absolute worst year was 2000, in which the Illinois only hit 700 a miserable 5 times.
Here's the data:
Days when average flow reached or exceeded 700 CFS at Kerby on the Illinois River between November 1st and December 17th:
2011: 10
2010: 37
2009: 14
2008: 10
2007: 17
2006: 34
2005: 31
2004: 11
2003: 15
2002: 12
2001: 29
2000: 5
1999: 32
1998: 32 (record 20-year for time frame on 11/21 was 20,400 CFS)
1997: 35
1996: 30
1995: 20
1994: 31
1993: 11
1992: 15
1991: 10
Back when there was water, January of 2011:
