Midwest Overview - March 1-7, 2003

Winter kept a tight grip on the Midwest the first week of March with much below normal temperatures and more snowfall.  A strong upper level low continued to spin over Hudson’s Bay periodically injecting cold arctic air into the nation’s midsection.  Temperatures departures for the week ranged from near normal in extreme southeast Kentucky to 20 degrees below normal in northern Minnesota (Figure 1). The significant precipitation during the week came with a major storm on March 4-5.  Low pressure developed in the Central Plains on the arctic boundary, then traversed slowly eastward.  The heaviest snowfalls with this storm occurred in northern Missouri, Iowa, northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, and low Michigan (Figure 2).  Despite the inconveniences the snow caused, it was welcome in most of these areas since these areas have experienced very dry weather during the winter and continue to experience drought conditions (Figure 3). Water equivalent precipitation from the snow averaged about 0.30 to 0.50 inches, but the weekly totals were still generally below normal (Figure 4).