Midwest Weekly Highlights - March 8-14, 2016

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Well Above-Normal Temperatures

Temperatures were very warm across the Midwest, leading to temperatures at least 10°F above normal (Figure 1).  Missouri was 10-15°F above normal, but the other eight states in the region were even warmer.  Minnesota, Wisconsin and Western Iowa were 16-20°F above normal, while the Ohio Valley and Lower Michigan was 14-18°F above normal.  Maximum temperatures across the region reached the 60s and 70s during multiple days of the week.  On March 8 through the morning of March 9, maximum temperatures were in the 70s across Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and parts of Iowa, Missouri and Lower Michigan (Figure 2).  Minimum temperatures for the period averaged 15-25°F above normal across the entire region (Figure 3).  Through the morning of March 9, minimum temperatures were in the upper 50s in Illinois and Indiana, which neared record-high minimum territory (Figure 4).
 

Wet in the Ohio Valley

A storm system brought heavy rain to parts of Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and southern Missouri during the week, dumping more than an inch of rain in these areas (Figure 5).  Some of the wettest areas were in western Kentucky, where 3-6 inches of rain fell through the mornings of March 10 (Figure 6) and March 11 (Figure 7).  This rainfall came from part of a larger system that caused major flooding from 1-2 feet of rain in Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi (Figure 8). Not all of the region had above normal precipitation, however (Figure 9).  Parts of eastern Kentucky, Wisconsin, Minnesota and western Iowa had less than half the normal amount of precipitation for the period (Figure 10).
 

First Tornado of 2016 in the Midwest

Thunderstorms on March 14 brought the first tornado of the year to the region (Figure 11).  A strong storm caused the EF-1 tornado to touch down near Phillipsburg in Montgomery County, OH during the mid-afternoon hours.  The last time tornadoes had been reported in the Midwest was December 23, when multiple tornadoes touched down in Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio.
 

Midwest Remains Drought Free for Tenth Consecutive Week

A wet winter has kept the Midwest drought-free for the tenth consecutive week to start 2016.  While some abnormal dryness was added to Minnesota in the latest update for March 8, less than three percent of the region was considered abnormally dry (Figure 12).  All of this abnormal dryness resided in Minnesota.

-BJP-