Midwest Weekly Highlights - June 1-7, 2016

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Comfortable Temperatures

Most of the region was warm to start June across the Midwest (Figure 1).  Only portions of Minnesota and the U.P. of Michigan had below-normal temperatures during the period.  Most of Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan were 1-4°F above normal.  Warmer conditions were found farther east, as eastern Indiana and Kentucky were 4-6°F above normal.  Ohio was the warmest spot at 5-9°F above normal.  Maximum temperatures in the upper 70s and 80s were common across most of the region (Figure 2).  However, average maximum temperatures in Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and the U.P. of Michigan were only in the 60s, and were 3-6°F below normal (Figure 3).
 

Wet in Wisconsin

Multiple rounds of precipitation in Wisconsin during the period led to a very wet week in the state (Figure 4).  Over an inch of rain fell across most of the state, with areas in northern Wisconsin receiving 2 or more inches of precipitation.  Most of this precipitation fell through the mornings of June 1 (Figure 5) and June 4 (Figure 6).  A handful of daily precipitation records were broken, including Winter, WI (Sawyer County) and Ladysmith, WI (Rusk County) where 4.72 inches and 4.20 inches fell through the morning of June 1, respectively.

Elsewhere in the region, near- to slightly above-normal precipitation was found across most of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, and southern Missouri.  Drier conditions were common across most of Iowa and northern Missouri, where precipitation departures were more than a half-inch below normal (Figure 7).  The quarter- to half-inch of precipitation that fell over these areas was less than half the normal amount (Figure 8).
 

A Few Weak Tornadoes

A few tornadoes were observed in the region in what was a fairly quiet week for severe weather (Figure 9).  Two weak tornadoes were reported in Stearns and Pipestone counties in Minnesota on June 3.  Two more weak tornadoes were reported on June 4 in Franklin County, OH and Wayne County, IN.  A waterspout was reported on Loon Lake in Shawano County, WI that same day.  The only day of widespread severe weather was on June 5, when straight-line winds caused wind damage in eastern Wisconsin.  Wind gusts of up to 60 mph were reported from Green Bay through the Wisconsin-Illinois border.
 

-BJP-