Temperatures

After a warmer start to the month, colder temperatures were creeping back in from the west this week. Temperatures averaged as much as 10-15°F below normal in Minnesota (Figure 1). Heading east and south, they trended slightly below normal to near normal, and in eastern Kentucky and southeastern Ohio, they were slightly above normal. In Sibley, Iowa, a station with records going back to 1893 observed three consecutive days of daily mean temperatures below 0°F, the first occurrence in February since 2022. In International Falls, Minnesota, the daily mean temperature stayed below 0°F for six consecutive days, February 9-14, for the first time in February since 2021.

Similar to average temperatures, minimum temperatures were most below normal in western Iowa, Minnesota, and western Wisconsin. In parts of Minnesota, they were as much as 20°F below normal for the week (Figure 2). In most of Kentucky, southern Indiana, and southern Ohio, they were above normal. In Brainerd, Minnesota, the minimum temperature was -30°F February 12-13, which was the coldest stretch of minimum temperatures in January since 2022. In International Falls, the minimum temperature was below -25°F for 3 consecutive days, February 11-13, which last occurred in February 2022.

Maximum temperatures were over 10°F below normal in western Wisconsin and Minnesota, 5-10°F below normal for most of the rest of the region, and near normal along and south of the Ohio River (Figure 3). In Rochester, Minnesota, the temperature was in the single digits for three consecutive days, February 11-13, for the first time in February since 2022.

Precipitation/Drought

Precipitation was fairly abundant across the region this period, both in the form of rain and winter precipitation types. Most of the region received at least 50 percent of normal precipitation, with parts of the Upper Midwest and Kentucky at or over 150-200 percent of normal precipitation (Figure 4). While some precipitation fell as rain—in Kentucky, some spots recorded 2 inches February 13-14 alone—much of the precipitation fell as winter precipitation types. This was especially the case west of the Mississippi River and in the Upper Midwest, all of which were on the cold side of a southerly track low-pressure system. This brought 3-6 inches of snow for parts of northern Missouri, Iowa, northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, and Michigan (Figure 5). Isolated areas in Iowa and the Michigan Snowbelt saw over 6 inches. Since temperatures at the surface were already quite cold—down in the single digits—and the air was dry, the snow was reportedly a powder-like snow, similar to that of western climates.

Most of the heaviest precipitation fell at the end of the period, and given the cold temperatures and drier snowfall there were minimal changes in the drought monitor from February 4 to February 11. In fact, D0 conditions (abnormally dry) actually expanded by over 6.5 percent, bringing 65 percent of the region into D0 (Figure 6). Expansions were made mainly in Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri.