Midwest Weekly Highlights - December 18-24, 2019

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Widespread Warmth

Temperatures were above normal across the entire Midwest, except for extreme eastern Ohio (Figure 1).  Values 8-12°F above normal were recorded across Iowa, southern Wisconsin, northwestern Illinois and Missouri.  Most of Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota and Kentucky were 3-7°F above normal as well.  While temperatures were generally cold during the first half of the period, extreme warmth was common in the second half.  Maximum temperatures reached the 40s and 50s across the southern two-thirds of the region on December 21 (Figure 2) and December 22 (Figure 3), with 60s in Missouri and Kentucky on December 23 (Figure 4).  More than 100 daily high maximum temperature records were broken during the period (Figure 5).
 

Exceptionally Dry

Extremely little precipitation fell during the period across the Midwest (Figure 6).  More than two-thirds of the region recorded no measurable precipitation.  Most of the precipitation that fell was due to lake-effects in Michigan and northern Ohio.  However, these amounts were still less than a quarter the normal amount in most cases (Figure 7).  Snowfall amounts in these areas mainly totaled between 0.5-3 inches (Figure 8).
 

-BJP-