Midwest Overview - November 2013

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Mild Temperatures

Temperatures in November were slightly below normal across the Midwest (Figure 1). Averaged for the month, temperatures were 2° to 5° F below normal in November. Daily temperature records were relatively few in number. Most of the few dozen record highs occurred on the 17th and 18th and most of the couple hundred record lows occurred during the last week of the month. Fall temperatures were near normal for the entire region (Figure 2). All areas in the Midwest were within a degree or two of normal for September to November.
 

Mostly Dry

Precipitation totals for November increased to the southeast from less than 0.10" in west central Minnesota to 3" to 4" in Kentucky and much of the Ohio River watershed (Figure 3). Northern Michigan, on both sides of Lake Michigan, was very wet with amounts topping 6" at some locations. Viewed as a percentage of normal (Figure 4), the range went from less than 10% of normal in Minnesota to more than 400% of normal in Michigan. Wisconsin and Michigan were mostly above normal but much of the rest of the region was below normal. Despite the mostly below normal precipitation totals, drought eased in November. The cooler conditions played a role as evapotranspiration was also reduced (Figure 5). September to November precipitation totals were also below normal for the majority of the region. Locations with above normal precipitation included the Ohio River valley into central Ohio, northern Michigan, and west central Minnesota. The driest locations for the fall as a whole was near St. Louis where rainfall totals fell 4" to 6" below normal (Figure 6).
 

Tornado Outbreak on the 17th

Severe weather struck on the 17th (Figure 7) with widespread and strong tornadoes in Illinois and Indiana. Strong storms also struck in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, the eastern edges of Iowa and Missouri, and southeast Wisconsin. Three of the tornadoes in Illinois were responsible for six deaths and hundreds of injuries. Details on the outbreak are available in the report for the third week of November.
 

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The Iowa Climatology Bureau also contributed to this report.
The Missouri Climate Center also contributed to this report.