Monthly Overview - March 2019

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Slightly Wetter Than Normal

March Precipitation was abundant across the southern Midwest (Figure 1).  Total precipitation was 109 percent of normal for the region.  However, amounts varied greatly depending on location.  Most of Wisconsin, Michigan and Kentucky were below normal while most of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota and western Iowa were above normal (Figure 2).  Some of the wettest areas were in western Minnesota, western Iowa, central Illinois and northern Missouri.  Snowfall was limited to the Upper Midwest, with heavy snowfall in parts of western Minnesota (Figure 3). Severe weather was largely limited to strong storms on March 14 (Figure 4).  An EF-2 tornado reported near Cunningham, KY was one of several tornadoes reported, while damaging winds and hail occurred along the Ohio River and from northwestern Indiana through southern Lower Michigan.
 

Widespread Cold

Temperatures were colder than normal across the entire Midwest in March (Figure 5).  Average temperature was 33.1°F which was 3.7°F below normal.  The coldest areas were in Iowa, Minnesota and western Wisconsin.  March began very cold, with more than 1,000 daily low maximum and minimum temperature records broken from March 3-6 (Figure 6).  Slightly warmer than normal temperatures were common during the middle of the month, however, before a colder last week of the month.
 

Record Flooding

Major flooding on the Mississippi and Missouri River and their tributaries impacted Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and Missouri during the second half of March (Figure 7). Heavy rain fell across western Iowa, southern Minnesota and Wisconsin during a storm from March 13-14 (Figure 8).  Record snowfall at many locations across western Iowa, southern Minnesota and Wisconsin melted very quickly (Figure 9).  Soils were frozen in many of these areas (Figure 10), while soil moisture was at or near record levels in areas that weren’t frozen (Figure 11).  Record crests were recorded along the Big Sioux River (Figure 12), Little Sioux River (Figure 13), Missouri River (Figure 14) and Ocheyedan River (Figure 15).  States of Emergency were declared in Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri.  Damage was estimated at over $1.6 Billion in Iowa as a federal major disaster declaration was declared for 56 Iowa counties.  Damage in the in the millions was also reported in Wisconsin and Missouri.
 

Wet Soils and Lack of Drought

The Midwest spent the entire month of March free of drought and abnormally dry conditions according to the U.S. Drought Monitor (Figure 16).  Prior to the stretch of no abnormally dry or drought conditions that began on February 26, these conditions only occurred during two other weeks since the start of the U.S. Drought Monitor in January 2000.  Soil moisture in the Midwest was at or near record levels in many areas, especially in Iowa, southern Minnesota, southern Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois.
 

-BJP-