Midwest Weekly Highlights - September 22-30, 2015

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Warm End to September

Well above normal temperatures continued for the Midwest to end September.  Average temperatures were mainly in the 60s, with upper 50s across northern Minnesota and the Lake Superior area (Figure 1).  Average temperatures 5-8°F above normal were common across the entire upper Midwest (Figure 2).  The northern half of the Ohio Valley was also 3-6°F above normal.  Kentucky was only a few degrees above normal.  Low temperatures had a large impact on the above normal average temperatures, as temperatures across Iowa and southern Minnesota were in the mid-50s (Figure 3), leading to departures of 9-12°F above the normal for this time of year (Figure 4).
 

Ohio Valley, Western Iowa Have Wet Week

Areas of the Midwest were quite wet to end September as several storms tracked through parts of the region.  The Minnesota Arrowhead and the Ohio Valley had 1-3 inches of rain for the period, with locally heavier totals in far eastern Ohio (Figure 5).  In many cases, this was more than twice the normal amount for the period (Figure 6). Far western Iowa was also quite wet as 2-4 inches of rain was common.  Most of the rain in this area fell on September 22 through the morning of September 24.  Audubon in Audubon County had 4.57 inches of rain through the morning of September 23, while Glenwood in Mills County had 5.35 inches through the morning of September 24. 

There was also a dry slot in precipitation coverage to end the month.  Much of Missouri, northern Illinois and Indiana, and southern Michigan received less than a tenth of an inch of precipitation over the period.  Some abnormally dry conditions were added to the latest drought monitor across west-central Illinois, thanks to the lack of rain (Figure 7).
 

Harvest Season Continues

The latest weekly NASS report shows that harvest weather has been good across the Midwest through September 27.  Two more states began reporting the corn harvest this week, as Iowa and Michigan now have five percent and four percent harvested, respectively (Figure 8).  Kentucky and Missouri are nearing the halfway point, but rain on September 28-30 in Kentucky may hinder some progress.  Minnesota was leading the soybean harvest in the latest report at 34% harvested, 14% above the 5-year average (Figure 9).  Dry and warm weather in the state in early May prompted early planting, likely leading to the earlier harvest.  Farther south in Iowa and Missouri, soybean planting was delayed due to an overly wet May, and both states were at less than ten percent harvested.

-BJP-