Midwest Weekly Highlights - September 17-23, 2014

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Precipitation

Precipitation totals were below normal for much of the Midwest in the third week of September (Figure 1). The largest rainfall totals topped 200% of normal in small areas of southwest Missouri and northern lower Michigan. Much larger areas along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers received less than 25% of normal including some areas which received no rain at all. The rains in southwest Missouri fell in or near the small area with lingering drought in the Midwest (Figure 2). Despite the low rainfall totals, there were severe weather reports in six states (Figure 3), including tornado reports in northwest Minnesota on the 19th and southern Michigan on the 20th.
 

Temperature

Temperatures ranged from just above normal in the western edges of the region to several degrees below normal for much of the eastern two-thirds of the region (Figure 4). Near normal temperatures, or small departures, were common across Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Further east, temperatures were as much as 5°F below normal.
 

Harvest

Corn and soybeans are reported in good to excellent condition for 60% or more of the crop in each Midwest state. However the maturity was slightly lagging the 5-year average so farmers were closely watching the weather for suitable conditions for maturing and drying the crops and hoping to avoid a killing freeze.
 

-MST-