Midwest Weekly Highlights - February 8-14, 2004

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A cold but quiet week.

In contrast to the previous few weeks, the second week of February was a tranquil one across most of the Midwest.  There were several intrusions of cold air into the Midwest during the week which helped keep temperatures below normal for the period.  Most of these cold fronts were starved of moisture, and little more than snow flurries accompanied the systems.

Temperatures during the week ranged from 9F below average in far western Missouri and Iowa to 2F above normal in an arc from eastern Kentucky north and westward to northern Wisconsin and the Michigan UP (Figure 1).  Precipitation was much below normal for the week across most of the Midwest (Figure 2).  The only area with above normal precipitation was a band across northern Minnesota to northern Wisconsin.  Most of this was with the snowfall on February 10 and lake effect snows that developed in the persistent northwest flow over the region.  An Alberta Clipper on February 10 brought blizzard conditions to North Dakota and the snow to northern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin.  Snowfall amounts ranged anywhere from one to six inches, with the heaviest amounts from Duluth, MN to Superior County, WI. 

Through the first half of February precipitation was well above normal across most of Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, and also much of Kentucky and southeastern Ohio (Figure 3).  February snowfall was at or above normal in all areas except for southern lower Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky (Figure 4).