Midwest Weekly Highlights - July 25-31, 2014

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Cool Weather Again

The fourth week of July was cool like the rest of the month. Temperatures ranged from near normal in north central Minnesota to as much as 7°F below normal in eastern Kentucky (Figure 1). Each week in July has been below normal for all or most of the Midwest.
 

Little Precipitation

Much of the Midwest was drier than normal (Figure 2), repeating a pattern seen throughout July. Though some areas each week have picked up above normal precipitation, the majority of the Midwest has been below normal each week. The fourth week of July had much above normal rainfall only in some scattered locations, while amounts less than a quarter inch (Figure 3) were common in northwest Minnesota, around the southern half of Lake Michigan, and from southwest Iowa, across Missouri, to western Kentucky. Despite the dry conditions in July, drought (Figure 4) has been largely held off due to sufficient subsoil moisture and lack of stress due to the cooler temperatures. Corn and soybean condition has remained stable with more than half of each crop in good or excellent condition in all nine states.
 

Severe Weather

Severe weather (Figure 5) was reported on six of the seven days during the week but four of the days only had a handful of reports. Most of the severe weather was reported on the 26th and 27th and was concentrated in the eastern half of the region. Two tornadoes were reported in Ohio (Champaign and Highland Counties) on the 27th. Also on the 27th, reports of a tornado and 4.25" hail came from Leslie County, Kentucky. The damage from all three of the tornadoes was primarily downed trees and power lines.
 

-MST-