Midwest Overview - November 1-7, 2002

The first week of November was fairly quiet, with one weak system moving through the region early in the period and a strong low pressure area skirting the area to the southeast later in the period.  Only the area around Kentucky received more than an inch of precipitation, with most of the central Midwest and zones to the north receiving half an inch or less (Figure 1). Precipitation was well below normal in the northwestern two-thirds of the Midwest (Figure 2). Conditions were dominated by cold advection, with most of the central and southern Midwest more than 7°F below normal (Figure 3). The combination of dry air and lack of precipitation caused abnormal dryness to spread into all of northwestern Illinois, and moderate drought to spread into all of Lower Michigan (Figure 4). There was some light lake effect snow during the period, but most of the snow through the region this week (Figure 5) fell on the northwestern side of the substantial low pressure center that moved across the southeastern corner of the region on the 5th and 6th (Figure 6).