November 22-30, 2025

Temperature

Average temperatures were slightly below normal for Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, and southern Michigan (Figure 1). Average temperatures were up to 5°F above normal across northern Minnesota. Elsewhere, temperatures were near normal.

Minimum temperatures were generally 4-8°F above normal in a belt that stretched across most of the Upper Midwest, save southern Michigan (Figure 2). Another belt of above-normal minimum temperatures was observed over the far southern reaches of the region, stretching from the Kansas/Missouri border to the Kentucky Coalfields. Minimum temperatures were slightly below normal across eastern Indiana and western Ohio.

Maximum temperatures were mostly below normal across the board. Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Kentucky observed maximum temperatures upwards of 4-6°F below normal (Figure 3). Elsewhere, maximum temperatures were generally near normal.

Precipitation/Drought

The pattern turned more active toward the end of the month. Normal-to-above-normal precipitation was observed over most of the region (Figure 4). In parts of the Upper Midwest, precipitation was over 400 percent of normal. Kentucky, southern Missouri, central Indiana, and Ohio observed below-normal precipitation.

Drought conditions improved slightly. Moderate drought (D1) decreased from 39 percent to 35 percent coverage across the region (Figure 5). Severe drought (D2) decreased from nearly 13 percent of the region to just under 10 percent of the region. Extreme drought (D3) remained the same. The largest improvements were made in Michigan and Missouri.

Thanksgiving Weekend Snowstorm

A low-pressure system traversed the middle of the region from west to east starting November 28 and lasting through November 30. The highest totals were found along I-80 and throughout the Upper Midwest. Isolated areas received over one foot of snow (Figure 6). Iowa State Patrol responded to over 100 car crashes during the weekend. Chicago, Illinois, observed its largest single-day snowfall in November on record with 8.4 inches on November 29. Madison, Wisconsin, observed 9.3 inches of snowfall on November 29, which was also the largest single-day November snowfall on record there. Waterloo, Iowa, observed 14.5 inches from November 28-30, which was the snowiest 3-day period in November on record in Waterloo. Just outside Terre Haute, Indiana, there was a 45-car pileup on I-70 westbound.