Midwest Overview - May, 2003

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May 2003 was quite eventful in the Midwest. After a slow start earlier in the spring, the severe weather season became extremely active during the first two weeks of the month. More tornadoes were reported in the US during those two weeks than in any other entire month of May on record. Many of these tornadoes occurred in the Midwest, especially in Missouri and Illinois. Extensive parts of both states were declared federal disaster areas.

Due to the highly active weather in the region, precipitation was above normal in every state in the Midwest (Figure 1). May 2003 was the 10th wettest in 109 years for the Midwest as a whole. Ohio had its 3rd wettest May, and Kentucky its 8th wettest, and Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin were in the top 20 wettest months of May on record. Only two areas in the Midwest received below normal amounts of precipitation, northern Minnesota and northwestern Missouri (Figure 2). The Midwest was somewhat cooler than normal during May 2003, ranking 44th coolest for the region. Most of the central and northern Midwest was 2-4°F below normal (Figure 3). The combination of heavy precipitation and cool temperatures slowed crop planting and development, so most crop types were behind normal progress at the end of the month. However, the rain did take away pressing concerns about the cold season drought continuing into the growing season. Only northern Minnesota and northwestern Missouri were still in a drought condition at the end of the month (Figure 4, National Drought Mitigation Center). However, a large band from Iowa to Michigan has lingering subsurface dryness, and much be watch closely for a return to drought conditions if timely summer rains are not forthcoming.