Midwest Weekly Highlights - October 8-14, 2015

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Dry Weather Continues

The dry start to October continued into the second week of the month as little rain fell across the central portions of the region (Figure 1).  Iowa went almost completely dry, with only extreme northeast and southeast portions of the region receiving any precipitation.  Most of Illinois and northern Indiana were also very dry, with less than a tenth of an inch of precipitation.  Departures of a half inch to 0.75 inches below normal were common (Figure 2).  Wetter conditions were seen throughout the Great Lakes and Kentucky, where a half inch to an inch of precipitation fell over the period.  While that was only slightly more than half the normal amount in the U.P. of Michigan, it was about 1.5 times the normal amount for northern Wisconsin (Figure 3).
 

Unseasonably Warm

Temperatures were quite warm as the entire region had above normal average temperatures during the period (Figure 4).  The most above normal areas were in the western reaches of the region where temperatures were 6-8°F above normal.  Temperatures in the Ohio Valley and Michigan were much closer to normal.  Average high temperatures were very warm in the western half of the region, averaging in the 70s throughout Iowa and Missouri (Figure 5).  The western fringes of the region had high temperatures up to 10°F above normal, with areas just to the west in the High Plains up to 15°F above normal (Figure 6).  The warmest day by far was on October 11 (observations taken on the morning of October 12), where temperatures reached the upper 80s in Minnesota and Iowa (Figure 7).  Some 90s were also observed in the western portions of Minnesota, which was more than 25°F above normal (Figure 8).
 

Patchy Drought Developing

After areas of moderate drought were added to Missouri during the first week of October, the National Drought Mitigation Center added patchy areas of drought across portions of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky and Indiana (Figure 9).  Many of these areas now in moderate drought have recieved only a quarter of the normal amount of precipitation since September 1 (Figure 10). Despite little to no precipitation in Iowa in October so far (Figure 11), most of the state is not dealing with drought due to a very wet summer and wet September.
 

Dry Weather Promotes Harvest

More dry weather across the region helped farmers get into the fields to continue the fall harvest.  Most states in the region averaged over six days suitable for fieldwork during the 7 day period from October 5-11 according to National Agricultural Statistics Service.  The soybean harvest passed the midpoint in five of the nine states, with Wisconsin and Michigan nearing 50% harvested (Figure 12).  Minnesota entered the homestretch at 91% harvested while Missouri and Kentucky were lagging behind at 31% and 38% respectively.  However, the harvest was near the 5-year average in both Missouri and Kentucky.  When it comes to the corn harvest, Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky were all above 70% harvested (Figure 13).  Michigan’s and Wisconsin’s corn harvest was near one-fifth completed while Iowa, Minnesota and Ohio were all around one-third complete.

-BJP-