Midwest Weekly Highlights - June 10-16, 2019

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Brisk and Cool

Temperatures were below normal across the entire Midwest during the week (Figure 1).  Average temperatures 4-6°F below normal were widespread, with some areas of northern Minnesota, Michigan and Indiana more than 7°F below normal.  Maximum temperatures were even cooler across Michigan, where some areas were 10°F below normal (Figure 2).  More than 100 daily low maximum and low minimum temperatures each were broken during the period (Figure 3).
 

Wet Weather Returns

After a brief reprieve in the first week of June, moderate to heavy rainfall returned to the northern Ohio River Valley, Michigan and Wisconsin (Figure 4).  Amounts of 1-2 inches were common in these areas, with parts of southern Indiana and northeastern Ohio receiving more than 3 inches.  Many of these areas had more than twice the normal amount (Figure 5).  More than 100 daily precipitation records were broken across the region (Figure 6).  However, lesser amounts in western Iowa, Minnesota and southern parts of the region were observed. This aided river flooding as it generally continued to recede across the region, with major flooding confined to the mid-Mississippi River Valley (Figure 7).
 

Planting Season Delays Remain

While some farmers have already made decisions to prevent plant, some continue to plant their fields in hopes of a long enough growing season.  Soybean progress remains 15-40 percent behind completed across many states while corn progress was 10-20 percent behind.  Ohio was the state furthest behind with only 68 percent of corn and 46 percent of soybeans planted for the week ending June 17.
 

Severe Storms

Strong storms across the region were mainly limited to the two-day period of June 15 (Figure 8) through June 16 (Figure 9).  On June 15, strong storms stretched from southern Minnesota through southern Indiana, with more than a half dozen reported tornadoes along with strong winds and hail.  Most of the tornadoes reported in Illinois and Iowa were weak tornadoes or landspouts that did little or no damage.  However in Indiana, EF-2 tornadoes were reported near Ellettsville (Monroe County) and in Greene County.  An EF-1 tornado was also reported near Beech Grove (Marion County) and near Freedom (Owen County).  No injuries were reported.  Storms continued into the Ohio River Valley on June 16, with strong widns and hail.  EF-1 tornadoes were also surveyed in northeastern Ohio near Vienna (Trumbull County), Windham (Portage County) and Glenwillow (Cuyahoga County).
 

-BJP-