Near-Normal Temperatures

The first week of December brought normal temperatures to the central Midwest, below normal temperatures in the northwest and above normal temperatures in the south and east (Figure 1). Northwest Minnesota saw temperatures that were up to 12°F below normal, and the south and east saw temperatures that were nearing 3°F above normal. Statewide, temperatures were 2°F above normal in Michigan and 4.2°F below normal in Minnesota. The mean temperature in Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota was –1.5°F which was 16.8°F below normal, making this the largest temperature departure in the Midwest this week. Minimum temperatures were below normal throughout much of the Midwest, especially in northern Minnesota, but were slightly above normal in Michigan and southern Missouri and Kentucky (Figure 2). Minimum temperatures in far northern Minnesota fell to nearly 18°F below normal. Maximum temperatures were at or above normal throughout the entire Midwest, except for northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (Figure 3). Overall, there were 3 low minimum and 13 low maximum temperature records broken or tied this week; most of which occurred in Minnesota (Figure 4).

Dry Conditions Return for Most

Most of the Midwest saw below normal precipitation, excluding Kentucky and Ohio, (Figure 5) where areas saw near-normal to 200 percent of normal precipitation. Outside of that, most of the Midwest received less than 0.5 inches of precipitation and areas of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana missed out on precipitation altogether (Figure 6). Clay County, Kentucky recorded 2.6 inches of precipitation, which was the highest total in the Midwest this week. Compared to past first weeks of December, this week was tied for driest on record for many stations in the Midwest (Figure 7). Despite this, some rankings in parts of Minnesota (due to lake-effect precipitation) and Kentucky were in the top 10 wettest weeks on record. Streamflows improved in Kentucky and Ohio, but worsened in Illinois and Indiana compared to the previous week (Figure 8).

Snowfall in the Upper Midwest

Only the upper Midwest received snow this week. Western Minnesota saw up to 200 percent of normal snowfall, while the rest of the area received normal to below-normal snow totals (Figure 9). This area recorded up to 8 inches of snow, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan saw up to and over 9 inches (Figure 10). Houghton County, Michigan recorded 9.6 inches of snow and Cook County, Minnesota recorded 7.8 inches of snow, making those the highest recorded totals this week. There were 8 snowfall records broken or tied this week (Figure 11).