April 25-30, 2002: More Rain and a Severe Weather Outbreak.

Active weather continued in the Midwest during April 25 to 30. More than two inches of precipitation fell in 6 days in much of the central and southern Midwest, and even parts of northern Wisconsin and Michigan received similar amounts (Figure 22). While heavy rain was widespread in the region on April 25, the severe weather had largely passed by the beginning of this period. A cold front brought cooler air and a day of dryness on the 26th, but by the 27th a strong low pressure center with upper level support was riding eastward out of the Great Plains. A widespread mass of precipitation had formed by the morning of the 27th over all of the western and central Midwest (Figure 23, U of Illinois Department of Atmospheric Science), with some embedded severe weather. The heaviest rain fell on the 28th, accompanying another outbreak of severe weather. The majority of the Midwest received more than 200% of normal precipitation during the period, and large areas of the northern Great Lakes and central Corn Belt received more than 300% of normal (Figure 24). The active storm track kept temperatures lower than normal in most of the Midwest, from 10°F below normal in northern Minnesota to near-normal in eastern Kentucky (Figure 25). Drought status was reduced somewhat by precipitation in the western Midwest (Figure 26, National Drought Mitigation Center); attention now turned to much of the central and eastern Midwest being too wet for farming activities such as tilling and planting. Soil moisture is considerably above normal in Illinois, Indiana, and some surrounding areas during a season when soil moisture is normally quite high (Figure 27, Climate Prediction Center). Stream flow is high through the eastern Corn Belt (Figure 28, USGS), with considerable flooding of fields near rivers.