Just like the government resets its counting stats with decennial censuses, the National Weather Service resets its counting data every ten years as well.

It may sound confusing, it's actually quite simple according to Chris Miller of the National Weather Service in Lincoln. He explains they compare their 'normal' data to a 30-year period. It's time to reset those 30-year 'normals'.

Temperatures in the last thirty years have slightly increased in recent years and Miller points out it is particularly noticeable in the winter temperatures.

Unsurprisingly to some, snowfall has increased over the years, and Miller points out it is again particularly noticeable later in the spring. Mid-April snow this year and an Easter Sunday snow just a few years ago are recurring memories for central Illinoisans.

Comparing the latest adjustment of 'normals', Miller says it's interesting to see the fluctuations in these data points. He explains temperatures have really only increased a half-of-a-degree over the last century-plus.

Miller says data like the new 'normals' and other fascinating data points are available all the time at weather.gov/lincoln.