Midwest Weekly Highlights - November 10-16, 2014

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An Early Taste of Winter

Very cold temperatures spread across the Midwest in the second week of November (Figure 1). In the eastern parts of the region, temperatures were 5°F to 10°F below normal and in the western parts of the region, temperatures were 15°F to 20°F below normal. Maximum temperatures dropped from the 11th (Figure 2), 60s and low 70s across the southern half of the region, to the 14th (Figure 3), 20s and low 30s across the region. Minimum temperatures also plummeted in just a few days with minimum temperatures in the 30s for most of the region on the 10th (Figure 4) falling to the teens for those areas on the 15th (Figure 5) and below zero temperatures for much of Minnesota and northern Wisconsin. Hundreds of record low maximum and minimum daily temperatures were set during the week.
 

Snow

Much of the Midwest was hit with snow during the week (Figure 6). The heaviest snows were across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Upper Michigan early in the week as a storm swept across the northern Midwest. Enhanced by lake-effect snows on the back side of the system, totals for the week topped 3 feet at some locations in northern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. Despite above normal snowfall totals for nearly all of the Midwest (Figure 7), precipitation was below normal for most of the region (Figure 8) with totals under 0.25" for much of the southern two-thirds of the region. Precipitation totals were above normal, and more than three times normal in some places, across central Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, and Upper Michigan (Figure 9).
 

-MST-