Midwest Weekly Highlights - September 1-7, 2016

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Heavy Rain in the Upper Midwest

Slow-moving storms to start September dropped more than an inch of rain across Minnesota, Wisconsin, northern Iowa and the U.P. of Michigan (Figure 1).  Many of these areas recorded more than two inches of rain, with some areas receiving more than four inches.  Several of the particularly wet days included September 5 (Figure 2) and September 7 (Figure 3). In Wisconsin, Ladysmith (Rusk County) recorded 3.00 inches through the morning of September 7 while Rest Lake (Vilas County) received 3.05 inches through the morning of September 6.  In Minnesota, 2.86 inches fell near Goodridge (Marshall County) through the morning of September 4 while 3.89 inches fell near Spring Grove (Houston County) through the morning of September 7.  Over 80 daily precipitation records were broken across the region, with more than half occurring in Minnesota or Wisconsin.

Elsewhere across the region, little to no precipitation fell.  Less than half the normal amount fell in the southern half of the region (Figure 4).  Minimal rainfall across Ohio aided in drought expansion in northern parts of the state (Figure 5).
 

Warm Start to Fall

Above-normal temperatures were common across the Midwest to start the Fall season (Figure 6).  Most of Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio were 1-3°F above normal, while parts of Michigan and Minnesota were as much as 5°F above normal.  Most of Missouri had near-normal temperatures.  The warmth was especially felt during the last two days of the period, with over 100 daily high-minimum records broken through the mornings of September 6 and September 7 (Figure 7).  High temperatures across the region were also in the 80’s and 90’s on September 6 through the morning of September 7 (Figure 8).
 

Flash Flooding in Wisconsin

Heavy rain on September 6-7 led to flash flooding across southern portions of Wisconsin, extreme southeastern Minnesota, and northeastern Iowa.  Richland County, WI had flooding near Rockbridge, Bloom City, and in Hentrietta Township.  Steep terrain along the Mississippi River caused a rockslide near Brownsville, MN (Houston County).  In central and eastern Wisconsin, localized flooding occurred in Milwaukee (Milwaukee County), Mayville (Dodge County) and Rock Springs (Sauk County).  Flooding occurred along both the Baraboo and Kickapoo rivers.  Strong winds and hail were also reported with many of these storms (Figure 9).
 

-BJP-