Midwest Weekly Highlights - July 11-17, 2013

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Dry, Except in Minnesota

The second week of July was relatively dry for most of the Midwest (Figure 1). A swath from northern Missouri to southwest Wisconsin where rainfall was spotty had totals more than an inch below normal for the 7-day period. The exception to the dry conditions was Minnesota where rainfall totals topped 2" in many locations and 3" in a few locations (Figure 2). The heavy rains on the 13th caused flooding in several Minnesota rivers. The lack of rain since the beginning of June has led to growing areas of abnormally dry in Iowa and Missouri in the latest US Drought Monitor (Figure 3). A few dozen daily precipitation records were set across the region.
 

Heat Builds During Week Two

Temperatures began the week below normal but warmth spread across the region by the end of the week. High temperatures on the 11th (Figure 4) were mostly in the upper 70s and lower 80s but by the 17th (Figure 5) most of the region reached the lower 90s. Averaged for the period departures from normal ranged from a couple degrees below normal in southern Illinois and western Kentucky to 6°F to 7°F above normal in parts of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Figure 6). Daily temperature records were limited until the last two days of the week when dozens of record high minimums were reported.
 

Little Severe Weather

There were few reports of severe weather during the week (Figure 7). Scattered reported of wind damage (mostly trees and limbs) and large hail (quarter to golf ball size) were far less numerous than the previous week. No tornadoes were reported in the nine Midwest states.
 

-MST-
The Minnesota State Climatology Office also contributed to this report.