Midwest Weekly Highlights - March 1-7, 2014

---

Snowy

The first week of March brought snowier than normal conditions to most of the region. The southern two thirds of the Midwest received two to seven times their normal weekly snowfall while northern areas were below normal (Figure 1). The largest totals stretched from southern Minnesota to the southern tip of Lake Michigan with six to 10 inches of snow (Figure 2). Despite the above normal snow, precipitation totals were below normal for most of the region. Precipitation was above normal, up to twice normal, in Kentucky and southern Missouri. The core of the areas with six or more inches of snow also were above normal in precipitation (Figure 3). Northern areas and a swath from southwest Iowa and western Missouri eastward to most of Ohio were at less than 50% of normal precipitation.
 

And Cold

Temperatures were cold across the Midwest and much colder than normal for most. In the southeast, mostly in Kentucky, temperatures were 5°F to 10°F below normal while the rest of the region was 10°F to 20°F below normal (Figure 4). The coldest areas were in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Maximum temperatures (Figure 5) averaged above freezing for just the southern half of the Midwest while maximums averaged under 15°F in northern Minnesota. Minimum temperatures (Figure 6) averaged below freezing across the region with minimums averaging less than -10°F in parts of the northern states, in some areas more than 20°F below normal. All nine states had stations that fell below zero during the week with the coldest minimums in the -20s in Iowa, -30s in Michigan and Wisconsin, and the -40s in Minnesota.
 

-MST-