February 15-21, 2023

Normal to Above Normal Temperatures

Most of the lower Midwest dealt with near-normal temperatures, with slightly above-normal temperatures in most of Missouri and Michigan (Figure 1). Farther north and west, temperatures were generally 6-10°F above normal in Iowa, northern Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Statewide temperature anomalies were much lower than previous weeks, with the highest being Minnesota at 4.1°F above normal. This was followed by Iowa at 3.1°F above normal and Wisconsin at 2.9°F above normal. Conversely, Ohio had a statewide temperature that was 0.9°F below normal. This was the first time since the week of January 15-21—1 whole month—that any state had an average 7-day temperature that was below normal.

Minimum temperatures varied from south to north. Much of the Ohio Valley saw minimum temperatures 3-5°F below normal (Figure 2). In the Upper Midwest, minimum temperatures were 3-6°F above normal, and in much of Minnesota specifically, they were 6-10°F+ above normal. Jackson, Kentucky had a top 5 coldest minimum temperature two days in a row, February 17-18. On February 21, Ottumwa, Iowa had a record high daily minimum temperature of 43°F, which was the warmest February minimum temperature since 2018.

Maximum temperatures were warm across the region. They were generally 4-8°F above normal, although much of Iowa, northern Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota observed maximum temperatures that were 8-11°F above normal (Figure 3). Chicago Midway Airport reached 68°F on February 21, the warmest February maximum temperature since 2017 and only the 7th time the temperature rose that high in February since 1928. As of February 21, the Twin Cities had reached 50ۜ°F 13 times since the beginning of meteorological winter, which already broke the previous record of 8 days from the entire winter season of 1980-1981.

Precipitation

Precipitation was few and far between, and much of it fell in the frozen form. Most of the lower Midwest saw less than 50 percent of normal precipitation, and it was less than 10 percent along the Ohio River (Figure 4). Parts of northern Michigan, Wisconsin, and southern Minnesota observed closer to normal totals.

Many Midwestern locations observed their highest single-day snow totals of the season. The event from February 15-17 brought 3-5+ inches of snow to much of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio (Figure 5). In parts of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, there was roughly 10 inches of snow from this event. Indianapolis, Indiana recorded 3.9 inches of snow on February 16, the highest single-day total since February 2022, and Columbus, Ohio recorded 4.4 inches on the same date, which was the highest single-day total since December 2022.

There were slight expansions of abnormally dry and D1 conditions across the region. A lack of appreciable precipitation cause D0 and D1 expansion across much of Missouri and southern Illinois (Figure 6). Elsewhere, there were no changes, with D3 conditions persisting across eastern Iowa.