Midwest Weekly Highlights - November 8-14, 2017

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Dry Weather Abounds

Very little precipitation fell across the Midwest during the week (Figure 1). Only the U.P. of Michigan received more than half an inch.  Isolated areas of a quarter-inch occurred in eastern Iowa, Ohio and Lower Michigan.  In most cases, less than half the normal amount of precipitation fell (Figure 2).  Only a small portion of the U.P. of Michigan had above-normal precipitation (Figure 3).

Most of the precipitation in the northern reaches of the Midwest was in the form of snowfall (Figure 4).  Lake-effect snowfall totaled 6-8 inches along most of the U.P. of Michigan.  Isolated amounts of 10 or more inches were found in the Keweenaw Peninsula, MI (Houghton and Keweenaw counties), with 14.6 inches at Dollar Bay, 13.0 inches at Kearsarge and 11.6 inches at Quincy Hill.  Most of this snowfall fell through the mornings of November 9 (Figure 5) and November 10 (Figure 6).
 

Cold Takes Over

Below-normal temperatures were widespread across the Midwest for the week (Figure 7).  The entire region was 3°F or more below normal.  The coldest areas were along the Great Lakes and northern Minnesota, where temperatures were 8-11°F below normal.  Hundreds of daily low maximum and minimum temperature records were broken during the week (Figure 8). The coldest morning was November 10 (Figure 9), with below-zero temperatures observed in northern Minnesota and isolated areas in northern Wisconsin and Michigan.  The coldest temperature observed that morning was -17°F at Camp Norris DNR, MN (Lake of the Woods County) and near Celina, MN (Saint Louis County).
 

Severe Drought Expands in Missouri

Severe drought was affecting more than 16 percent of Missouri according to the November 14 U.S. Drought Monitor (Figure 10).  This was double the 8 percent of the state in severe drought on November 7.  Areas that were included in the expansion of severe drought were the southeastern and east-central parts of the state, including western suburbs of St. Louis.  Low streamflow and long-term precipitation deficits were cited as contributing factors.  Elsewhere, most of the Midwest remained drought-free (Figure 11).  Less than seven percent of the Midwest was considered in drought.
 

-BJP-