Midwest Weekly Highlights - November 24-30, 2020

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Warm Temperatures

Conditions across the Midwest were warm in the last week of November (Figure 1). Areas in the Upper Midwest were the most above normal, with western Minnesota 4-6°F above normal. Southern Missouri and most of the Ohio River Valley were near normal to slightly below normal. Scattered daily records were recorded across the region (Figure 2), with most coming from high minimum temperatures.
 

Heavy Precipitation in the Southern Midwest

Storms across the southern Midwest led to heavy rain in southern Iowa, northern Missouri and the Ohio River Valley (Figure 3). Amounts over 1.50 inches were common in these areas. This was more than three times the normal amount in southern Iowa and northern Missouri (Figure 4). Most of this rain fell in the first half of the period, with most falling through the mornings of November 25 (Figure 5) and November 26 (Figure 6). More than 80 daily precipitation records were broken during the week (Figure 7), mostly in Iowa and Missouri. Meanwhile, dry conditions were common across the Upper Midwest, with areas in Minnesota and northern Wisconsin receiving less than a quarter the normal amount. Near- to slightly below-normal precipitation was also observed across southern Missouri, southern Kentucky, central Illinois. Some snowfall was reported in the Upper Midwest as well (Figure 8), with most areas receiving less than two inches.
 

Drought Holds Serve

Few changes were observed in the Midwest according to the November 25 U.S. Drought Monitor (Figure 9). Drought-affected areas remained slightly less than 10 percent while areas abnormally dry remained around one third of the region. Pockets of severe drought remained in western Iowa and in central Illinois. Unfortunately, these areas did not receive most of the rainfall from the storms on November 25 and 26. Decreased water demand was expected keep these areas either steady or could cause only a slow decline in conditions headed into the winter.
 

-BJP-