Temperatures

Temperatures were as much as 10-14°F above normal in southern Missouri and southern Kentucky (Figure 1). Much of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Minnesota were 5-10°F below normal. Eastern Ohio and much of Michigan were near normal for the week.

Minimum temperatures were most above normal across Missouri, western Kentucky, southwestern Minnesota, and northwestern Iowa, where they were over 10°F above normal for the week (Figure 2). The rest of the region was generally 5-10°F above normal. Minimum temperatures were slightly below normal across northeastern Wisconsin, Michigan, and the Greater Cleveland area. In Rockford, Illinois, the maximum temperature rose to 70°F on November 15, which was the latest 70°F+ temperature in Rockford during the calendar year since 2016.

Maximum temperatures were similarly over 10°F above normal across southern Missouri (Figure 3). The rest of the region observed maximum temperatures generally 4-8°F above normal, except Michigan and Ohio, where they were near normal.

Precipitation and Drought

Across the Upper Midwest, precipitation was generally less than 25 percent of normal (Figure 4). However, across southern Wisconsin, it rose to at least 50 percent normal, and across southern Minnesota, precipitation was above normal. Much of the I-80 corridor was below normal. A belt of above-normal precipitation stretched across the southern third of the region, from Missouri through the Ohio River Valley. Much of the precipitation was liquid this week, as accumulating snow was limited to minor snowfall across Wisconsin and Michigan (Figure 5).

Drought increased across all categories from November 11 to November 18 (Figure 6). The largest increase was in the abnormally dry (D0) category, which increased from 63 percent to 68 percent of the region, most of which occurred over Minnesota and Wisconsin. Elsewhere, drought conditions mainly persisted, with a 4 percent increase in moderate drought (D1), mostly across Minnesota and Wisconsin.