Midwest Weekly Highlights - October 1-10, 2020

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Cooler Temperatures

Temperatures were slightly below normal across most of the Midwest during the first ten days of October (Figure 1).  Most of the cool weather came from overnight minimum temperatures that were 3-5°F below normal across the region (Figure 2).  Average temperatures were near normal across most of Iowa, Missouri and Minnesota, however.  First frosts were recorded in Iowa, Wisconsin and parts of central Illinois (Figure 3) from cold mornings on October 4 (Figure 4) and October 5 (Figure 5).  However, hard freezes at 28°F were spotty across these areas (Figure 6).
 

Dry Conditions Persist

The period of dry weather since mid-September continued through the first ten days of October across the Midwest (Figure 7).  Only a few areas along the Great Lakes in Michigan received more than an inch of precipitation.  Some isolated areas in the U.P. of Michigan also received lake-effect snowfall (Figure 8).  However, most of the region had less than half the normal amount of precipitation for the period (Figure 9), with most of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and the Ohio River Valley receiving less than a quarter of normal.
 

Extreme Drought Returns

After a wet weather in the second week of September allowed for a reduction of drought in the Midwest, continued dry weather led to the re-introduction of extreme drought in northwestern Iowa according to the October 6 U.S. Drought Monitor (Figure 10).  Most of western Iowa was in either severe or extreme drought, with extreme drought also introduced into several counties in extreme southwestern Missouri.  Moderate drought persisted across portions of Indiana and east-central Illinois, as well as in the Arrowhead of Minnesota and several other scattered areas of the region.  An estimated 6 million people were living in drought-affected areas.
 

-BJP-