Monthly Overview - February 2017

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Near-Record Warm February

Temperatures for the month of February in the Midwest were very warm and broke records in multiple states (Figure 1).  The Midwest as a whole ranked second warmest on record (1895-2017) with an average temperature of 35.6°F which was 9.1°F above normal. Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio had their warmest February on record, while all other Midwest states ranked among the ten warmest on record. 

State	Avg Temp (°F)	Dep Norm (°F)	Rank  (Warmest)	Record/ Prev Record	Year
IL	41.0	10.1	1	40.0	1998
IN	41.4	10.3	1	39.4	1998
KY	46.2	8.4	1	45.3	1932
MO	45.1	9.9	1	43.5	1930
OH	40.6	9.9	1	38.7	1998
MI	29.7	7.6	2	32.1	1998
WI	27.8	8.2	2	31.6	1998
IA	34.5	10.0	3	35.6	1954
MN	23.9	8.5	T6	28.8	1998
Midwest	35.6	9.1	2	35.9	1998

Major Midwestern cities, including Indianapolis, IN, Des Moines, IA, St. Louis, MO, Cleveland, OH and Milwaukee, WI had their warmest February on record.  In addition, thousands of daily highest maximum and highest minimum temperature records were broken in the region (Figure 2).  Many monthly records for warmest one-day February temperature were also broken, sometimes on multiple occasions, between the dates of February 17-23. Maximum temperatures in the 60s and 70s were common across a majority of the region during the stretch of record warmth.
 

Dry to the South, Wet to the North

Very dry conditions were common across Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky while wetter conditions were common across northern Iowa, Wisconsin, Northern Minnesota and the U.P. of Michigan in February (Figure 3).  Overall, the Midwest had 1.25 inches of precipitation, which was about 70 percent of the normal amount. Missouri and Illinois ranked among the 10 driest years on record (1895-2017), while Indiana and Kentucky received only around half the normal amount (Figure 4).
 

Below-Normal Snowfall

Snowfall in the region was lower than normal across most of the region (Figure 5).  A snowstorm on February 23-24 brought the only significant amount of snowfall to Iowa and southern Minnesota (Figure 6).  The only other areas with near- to above-normal snowfall were in extreme northern Minnesota and the U.P. of Michigan.  Most of Kentucky and Missouri received no snowfall in February (Figure 7).
 

Warm and Not Very Snowy Winter

The winter season was warmer than normal across the entire Midwest (Figure 8).  December through February, the temperature of 29.6°F ranked among the ten warmest on record.  Most of this warmth occurred in January and February.  Milwaukee, WI tied its warmest January through February on record. Precipitation was near normal for the region at 5.83 inches (Figure 9).  Areas of northern Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota received more than one-and-a-half times the normal amount of precipitation (Figure 10).  Less than half the normal amount fell in Missouri and most of Illinois, however, with some areas receiving less than a quarter of normal.  Snowfall was also sparse during the winter (Figure 11), with most of southern Iowa, Missouri, southern Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky receiving less than a quarter of the normal amount (Figure 12).  Near- to above-normal snowfall fell across most of Wisconsin, Minnesota, northern Iowa and Michigan.
 

Drought Increases in Missouri

While moderate drought decreased in Missouri during January, a dry month contributed to an increase of moderate drought coverage in February.  While less than 10 percent of the state was in drought at the beginning of the month (Figure 13), nearly two-thirds of the state was in moderate drought at the end (Figure 14).  Outside of Missouri, only a small part of west-central Illinois was in drought during February.
 

Severe Weather and Deadly Tornadoes

Several days of convective severe weather occurred in the Midwest in February (Figure 15).  While most of the reports occurred in the last week of February, an EF-0 tornado occurred near Cadiz, KY on February 8.  Scattered wind and hail reports were common on February 24 in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky.  A significant severe weather event occurred during the evening and overnight hours of February 28.  Hundreds of wind, hail and tornado reports were reported.  Tornadoes in Illinois and Missouri killed four people.  These were the first tornado fatalities in the Midwest since April 2015.

-BJP-