Temperature

Average temperatures were mostly below normal across the northern half of the region (Figure 1). Much of Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, eastern Iowa, northern Illinois, and northeastern Ohio were at least 10°F below normal for the week. Meanwhile, the gradient in departure from normals dropped off steeply heading south and west, with much of Missouri less than 5°F below normal for the week.

Minimum temperatures were below normal across the northern tier of the region by at least 10°F (Figure 2). Some remote areas of northern Minnesota were over 15°F below normal. Much of the rest of the region was 5-10°F below normal, with near-normal minimum temperatures in southwestern Missouri.

Maximum temperatures were roughly 10°F below normal in a belt of the region that stretched from Minnesota down through Illinois and Indiana and into southern Ohio and Kentucky (Figure 3). In southwestern Missouri, maximum temperatures were the least below normal, coming in at 1-3°F below normal. On December 14, temperatures struggled to rise above the single digits in many locations. In Dayton, Ohio, the maximum temperature on December 14 was 10°F, the coldest daily high temperature in Dayton in December since 2004.

Precipitation/Snow/Drought

Precipitation was below normal for most of the region. In Missouri, there was nearly no precipitation anywhere in the state (Figure 4). For much of the rest of the region, precipitation was somewhere under 75 percent of normal. Across the Upper Midwest, precipitation was near normal, except in Minnesota, where much of the state was over 200 percent of normal.

There were several snow events this week. Snow fell across the Upper Midwest snowbelt; however, two separate snow events took southerly tracks across Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, and Kentucky. Totals for the week climbed over a half foot for portions of Iowa, Central Illinois, and Central Indiana (Figure 5). As of December 14, Indianapolis had received 11.2 inches of snowfall, making it the 2nd snowiest start to the month behind 1977.

Drought remained largely unchanged from December 2 to December 9. There were minor degradations made across all present categories (Figure 6).