February 1-6, 2001

February started off very quietly, with small temperature anomalies and little precipitation. Two clipper system passed through around February 2nd and 5th, leaving very little liquid water precipitation except in some lake-effect zones near Lake Superior (Figure 4). Even the snow amounts were fairly insignificant, with values of only a few inches in most areas of the northern Midwest that were affected by the clippers (Figure 5). Temperatures hovered around normal levels, with the western Midwest being slightly cooler than normal and the eastern Midwest somewhat warmer (Figure 6). No major negative climate impacts were noted in the Midwest this week, but we watched with amazement the snow totals of up to 38 inches produced by the major noreaster in New England.