February 22-28: Winter Resumes with Cold and Heavy Lake Effect Snow.

The final week of February marked a return to winter conditions, including a moderate winter storm and the coldest temperatures of the season. Northern Michigan received two tremendous lake effect outbreaks, while much of the eastern Midwest received moderate 0.5 to 1.0 inch rains (Figure 24). While the lake effect belts and the storm track received well above normal precipitation for the period February 22-28, most of the southern and eastern Midwest received less than 50% of normal precipitation (Figure 25). The Upper Peninsula of Michigan experienced at least a foot of snow during the week, with some areas around the eastern and central UP reporting more than 2 feet of snow (Figure 26). This is also the first week since January when the Midwest was predominantly below normal in temperature, with only Wisconsin and Michigan barely hanging on to positive anomalies, and much of the southern Midwest 5-7°F below normal (Figure 27). Most of the precipitation during the week fell in areas already considerably moist, so parts of western Iowa and eastern Kentucky joined the ranks of abnormally dry areas during the period (Figure 28, National Drought Mitigation Center).