Midwest Weekly Highlights - January 8-14, 2013

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Warmth Across Region

Temperatures in the second week of January were above normal across the Midwest (Figure 1). Warmth increased from west to east with departures ranging from a few degrees in the west to 10 to 15F in the east. Over 600 daily temperature records were set in the 7 day period, all record highs with most being record high minimum temperatures.
 

Heavy Precipitation Widespread

Rainfall totals of two to more than five times normal fell across large areas of the Midwest in the second week of January (Figure 2). The majority of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and lower Michigan along with northern Minnesota, southern Missouri, and western Ohio had at least twice their normal precipitation for the week. More than 400 daily precipitation records were set during the week, with at least 10 records in each state except Minnesota. Rainfall totals topped 5" in western Kentucky (Figure 3). Drought conditions showed some improvements with the plentiful rains (Figure 4). Despite the heavy rains in many locations, most of Iowa and upper Michigan were below normal with areas receiving less than half of normal and small areas less than a quarter of normal. Snowfall topped a couple inches only in the far northern reaches of the Midwest (Figure 5).
 

-MST-