April 8-14, 2016
Midwest Weekly Highlights - April 8-14, 2016
Wet Across the Northern Ohio Valley
Wet weather was common across the northern half of the Ohio Valley this week as more than an inch of precipitation fell across southern Illinois, Indiana and Ohio
(Figure 1). Pockets of up to two inches were found in southern Indiana and Illinois. Parts of southern Missouri also received up to an inch of precipitation. Iowa, Minnesota and western Wisconsin were considerably drier and were more than a half-inch below normal for the period (Figure 2). Colder weather also led to snow near the Great Lakes
(Figure 3). The majority of this snowfall occurred through the mornings of April 8 (Figure 4) and April 9
(Figure 5).
Cold Temperatures Continue
Below-normal temperatures remained across the Midwest for the second consecutive week (Figure 6). Ohio, Indiana and Michigan and eastern Illinois were 5-8°F below normal. Parts of northern Minnesota were also up to 10°F below normal. The remainder of the region was mostly 2-5°F below normal, with a few near-normal areas in the far western portions of the region. This cold weather set many daily record minimum temperatures across the region from April 9-13. Many of these records occurred on April 9
(Figure 7) and April 10 (Figure 8) across Minnesota and Wisconsin, where minimum temperatures were in the teens and single digits.
Drought-Free Streak Ends for the Midwest
After a 14-week stretch of drought-free conditions in the Midwest, the longest drought-free stretch for the region since the advent of the U.S. Drought Monitor in 2000, moderate drought was introduced into west-central Missouri and Minnesota in the April 12th Drought Monitor
(Figure 9). Most of Missouri has seen precipitation 4-6 inches below normal since January 1 (Figure 10). Meanwhile, west-central Minnesota has seen less than half its normal amount of precipitation since January 1
(Figure 11). Abnormally dry conditions were also added to parts of central and eastern Kentucky in the latest update.
-BJP-