January 2001
Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies.
The month of January was very average from a regional standpoint, with temperatures ranking 41st warmest and precipitation ranking 42nd driest. However, as is normal in a region as large as the Midwest, there were considerable gradients in both fields. The northern Midwest was well above normal in temperature while the southern portion was near normal or slightly below normal (Figure 1). Minnesota had its 16th warmest January, while Kentucky had its 29th coldest. Precipitation patterns were dominated by a few large events, with the west generally wetter than normal and the east drier (Figure 2). Iowa had its 17th wettest January, and Indiana and Ohio both had their 13th driest. A large portion of the precipitation arrived in a warm rain event late in the month, so most of January was quite dry. With the combination of dry and mild conditions, snow fall totals were fairly light, although snow was widespread (Figure 3). Only the northern lake areas in Michigan and Wisconsin received larger than normal amounts of snow. It should be noted, though, that the one intense, fast moving snow storm of the month had severe impacts on the central Midwest, resulting in dozens of deaths due to weather-related accidents.
The snow storm that passed through the region on January 26-27 would not normally be considered important, given that it provided a generally small amount of total snowfall (Figure 18). However, this snow from a fast moving system fell intensely, so the 2-6 inches recorded in many places arrived during a brief period of time as the front and low passed by. Since the storm came after a relatively quiet few weeks, many road surfaces had lost some of their winter salt build-up, and road crews had a hard time keeping roads from icing. To make matters worse, much of the snow fell during morning rush hours on the 26th in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Huge car pile-ups and deadly accidents were quite common. In the most horrific accident, a single Salvation Army van lost control on an icy, snow-packed I-55 in Illinois and slid across the median into the path of an oncoming semi, killing 10 people instantly and severely injuring two others. In Indiana, 5 people died in some of the several hundred accidents reported; fortunately, no one died in a 20 car pileup on I-69. In southeast Wisconsin, 50 cars were involved in an accident on I-43, with the chain reaction extending more than a mile down the highway. Again, fortunately, no one was killed in this incident. Finally, in Iowa, 17 people were killed in weather-related accidents between the 26th and 28th, leading an Iowa State Patrol officer to state "That is an insane amount (of deaths) ..." (Des Moines Register, 1/29/01). Air travel was also affected, with hundreds of cancellations at O'Hare in Chicago. For such light snow amounts, the storm was disproportionally damaging and deadly.
The intense low pressure area that visited the region on January 29-30 left behind 1-2 inches of rain in places in Missouri and Illinois (Figure 19), widespread freezing rain in many states, and significant snow in Iowa and Minnesota. A light freezing rain entered western and central states in the Midwest on the evening of January 28, with definite impacts on transportation and power utilities. Some portions of eastern Iowa, northeastern Missouri, northern and western Illinois, and southern Minnesota and Wisconsin received measurable amounts of freezing rain. In western Illinois, observers near Macomb reported over one-half inch of accumulated ice, and some downed tree limbs and power lines. Chicago area roads were heavily iced, and 154 flights were canceled by United Airlines on the 29th. About 240 flights were canceled by Northwestern Airlines in Minneapolis. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that more than 300 people visited emergency rooms in southeastern Wisconsin due to weather-related slip-and-fall injuries. Traffic was disrupted and innumerous accidents were reported from Minneapolis all the way to Cleveland. Portions of I-90, I-77, and I-480 near Cleveland were closed for hours, as 130 accidents occurred during the morning commute.
After the initial icing, areas receiving heavy rain in Missouri and Illinois reported widespread road and stream flooding, as the water could not be readily absorbed by the partially frozen ground in many places. On the back end of the storm, heavy, wet snow fell in western Iowa and Minnesota, bringing about more school closings and power outages in these areas. Some places received up to 6-8 inches of snow, but were not nearly as impacted as locations in the Dakotas, some of which received up to 18 inches of snow. Ice and snow covered roads in Minnesota on the evening of the 29th resulted in three fatal crashes. The vast weather impacts of the last week of January in the Midwest belie the relative tranquility of the earlier portion of the month.