Midwest Weekly Highlights - December 22-31, 2013

---

East-West Split in Temperatures to End the Year

To round out the year, below average temperatures dominated the northern and western portions of the region, while the eastern portion saw near or above average temperatures (Figure 1). Every state in the region, with the exception of Kentucky, had at least a portion experience sub-freezing average temperatures for the week with four states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa) experiencing state wide sub-freezing average temperatures (Figure 2). Taking the cold weather a step further, the entire states of Minnesota and Wisconsin had average maximum temperatures below freezing, with areas experiencing average maximum temperatures as low as 0°F to 10°F (Figure 3). The entire region also saw average minimum temperatures below 30°F (Figure 4). Numerous daily temperature records were set across the region with a mix of record low (maximum and minimum) and record high (maximum and minimum) temperatures. The record high temperatures were primarily seen in the eastern portion of the region and the record low temperatures primarily in the northern areas.

A White Christmas for ...

Much like the 3rd week of December, northern Michigan saw the greatest snowfall accumulations, in the area of 15" to 20" (Figure 5). A number of other areas saw at least 5" of snowfall, including northwest Missouri, most of Iowa, extreme northern Illinois, eastern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. For Missouri and Iowa, most of their snowfall came early in the week during an event that spanned the 21st and 22nd of December (Figure 6). For Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, snow came on several days, spanning the 22nd through the 26th (Figure 7). As of the morning of the 25th, a fair amount of the region had snow on the ground for a white Christmas, including all of Minnesota, Wisconsin, most of Michigan and portions of Iowa, Missouri, Illinois and Ohio (Figure 8). A number of snowfall records were set across the region over a number of days.

Rain for those without Snow

Areas south of a line from southwest Missouri through northeast Ohio saw nothing but rain to end the year. Most of those areas experienced at least 1" of rain and as much as 3+" in parts of southern Indiana and the area where Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky meet (Figure 9). The areas that received rain all saw above average precipitation, with many experiencing 200%+ normal (Figure 10). Virtually all of the precipitation records were set on the 22nd, with a few more on the 29th.

-ACC-