Midwest Weekly Highlights - July 18-24, 2014

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A Dry Week

Precipitation totals were well below normal for most of the Midwest in the third week of July. Significant areas of six Midwest states received no rain and totals were under a quarter inch for roughly half of the region (Figure 1). Above normal precipitation fell in northern Minnesota and eastern Kentucky and in just a few other isolated locations (Figure 2). Despite the lack of rain, the US Drought Monitor dated July 22 showed less than 2% of the region in moderate drought (Figure 3), all of it in southwest Missouri.
 

Continued Cool

Midwest temperatures remained cool for another week (Figure 4). Temperatures were as much as 7°F below normal in southern Illinois and below normal for most of the Midwest. Northern Minnesota and small parts of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan were the only areas above normal, just by a degree or two. Dozens of record low maximum and minimum temperatures were set in the first three days of the week, mostly in the southern half of the region.
 

Severe Weather

Severe weather was reported on the last four days in the week and in eight of the nine Midwest states (Figure 5). Despite the widespread areas affected, the total number of reports was fairly low with most coming on the 21st and affecting northern Minnesota and a few Wisconsin and Michigan locations along the coast of Lake Superior. The lone tornado reported in the Midwest was along the western border in northwest Minnesota on the 21st (Figure 6). On the 23rd (Figure 7), severe weather reports to the south of the Midwest extended into southern Missouri and Kentucky.
 

-MST-