August 1-10, 2019
Midwest Weekly Highlights - August 1-10, 2019
Precipitation
Precipitation across the Midwest was generally light in the first ten days of August. Ten-day totals of rainfall were less than an inch for most of the region with large areas with less than 0.25" in six of the nine states (Figure 1). The heaviest rains were recorded in the western edge of Missouri with totals in excess of 3". Most of the region was below normal for the 10-day period, including areas in seven states that were more than 1" below normal (Figure 2). Small areas of west central Minnesota, northeastern Wisconsin, and the western edge of Missouri had totals that were more than 1" above normal. With the drier weather, the US Drought Monitor for August 6th (Figure 3) nearly doubled the area in the Midwest regarded as Abnormaly Dry, however there remained no drought in the region since the beginning of the calendar year.
Temperature
Average temperatures in the Midwest ranged from 2°F below normal in western Missouri to 3°F above normal in northwestern Minnesota, however nearly all of the region fell within 2°F of normal and over half of the region was within 1°F of normal for the 10-day period (Figure 4). Few temperature records were set during the week with just seven daily record highs
(Figure 5) and just 50 daily record lows (Figure 6). The record lows were mostly record low maximum daily temperatures over record low minimum temperatures by a two-to-one margin.
Severe Weather
Despite the relatively dry weather there were dozens of severe weather reports across the region with at least a handful in each of the nine Midwestern states (Figure 7). A single tornado report was made in Iowa on the 5th, Ohio on the 6th, Wisconsin on the 7th, followed by two tornado reports in Minnesota on the 10th. Damage in the Iowa tornado included crops, trees, and houses and in Minnesota damage was reported to trees, a camper, and a barn roof. On the 5th, there were numerous reports of hail from 2.50" to 4.00" in Minnesota and some 2.00" hail in Wisconsin. On the 6th, there were a couple reports of 2.75" to 3.50" hail in Illinois. On the 8th, thunderstorm winds blew down a tree onto a vehicle in Ohio causing a serious injury. Another injury was reported to an accident related to a downed tree in Michigan on the 5th.
-MST-