June 8-14, 2004
Midwest Weekly Highlights - June 8-14, 2004
Rain,
Rain, Go Away…
Warm, tropical-like humid air spread up through the Midwest this
week, a sharp contrast to the cool, dry weather the first week of
the
month. A series of disturbances triggered complexes of
thunderstorms that produced heavy rainfall across the northern half of
the region. The copious rainfall resulted in numerous flash
flood events, caused rivers and streams to flood, and saturated fields.
Rainfall for the week was more than double the normal weekly rainfall
across most of the region, and five to six times normal across portions
of southern Minnesota and central Wisconsin, and from eastern Illinois
through western Indiana and central Ohio (Figure 1). Temperatures this week ranged from 6F above
normal across Illinois to 4F below normal in Minnesota (Figure 2). The temperature departure pattern
shows quite clearly the mean position of the boundary between the very
warm humid air over the central and southern Midwest and the cooler air
to the north. As shown in the example from June 11 (Figure 3, Unisys),
disturbances moving along this boundary produced the frequent heavy
rains across the Midwest.
The first few days of the period were very warm, with a number of
temperature records set in the Midwest. On June 8, Marquette MI
set a new record high of 90F, breaking the old record of 88F set in
1968. The minimum temperature of 63F was a new record high
minimum, breaking the old record of 62F set in 1962. Record high
minimum temperatures also were set at Milwaukee, WI, and Rochester, MN.
Round 1
The first wave of heavy rain moved through Minnesota and Wisconsin on
June 8-9. Numerous daily rainfall records fell on June 9.
Rochester, MN set a new daily rainfall record of 4.06 inches,
shattering the old record of 1.63 inches set in 1974. La Crosse,
WI also set a new record with a total rainfall for the day of 2.41
inches, breaking the old record of 1.86 inches set in 1889. Rainfall
across central Minnesota into west central Wisconsin ranged from 2.50 to 6.50
inches (Figure 4). Many roads were flooded with up to two feet of water, and
in central Minnesota mudslides closed southbound Highway 169 from
St. Peter to the Blue Earth County line (Figure 5). Other mudslides were reported in
parts of west-central Wisconsin. Later in the day, heavy
thunderstorms moved through southern Michigan downing large trees and
power lines, knocking out power to 50,000 residents and businesses in
southeast Michigan.
The wet conditions across the upper Midwest were also reportedly
producing a bumper crop of mosquitoes.
Round 2
On June 10 the heavy rain shifted southward. Heavy rain inundated
east-central Illinois and west-central Indiana as thunderstorms erupted
in the tropical air mass. Conditions were conducive for weak tornadoes,
and a number of small tornadoes were reported. The torrential
rains produced widespread urban flooding. Radar estimated
rainfall of 4.00-6.00 inches (Figure 6, NWS) was verified by reports from
cooperative observers. Bismarck, IL received 5.10 inches;
Lafayette, IN 4.51 inches; and Kokomo, IN 4.20 inches. One to two
feet of standing water was reported on some city streets in Danville,
IL (Vermilion County),
and one intersection reportedly was covered by four feet of
water. Some neighborhoods were evacuated as Lake Vermilion
spilled out of its banks. Non-emergency travel was banned on
county highways.
Heavy thunderstorms continued to lash an area from northeastern
Illinois through northern Indiana into central Ohio on June 11-12, and
several more inches of rain fell in these areas (Figure 7). By
the morning of June 12 48-hour rainfall amounts totaled 2.00 to more
than 7.00 inches across northern and central Indiana.
West Lafayette, IN received 7.51 inches of rain between June 10 and
June 12. The Wabash River at Lafayette crested at 21.7 feet on
June 12, 10.7 feet above flood stage. Water 4 feet deep covered streets
in one West Lafayette subdivision. In Fort Wayne, the Maumee
River crested at 20.7 feet on June 14, 4 feet above flood stage.
Round 3
Late on June 12 and early in the morning on June 13 thunderstorms
concentrated over southwestern and northwestern Missouri, dropping 1.00
to 3.00 inches of rain (Figure 8). Springfield, MO set a new daily record rainfall for June
13 of 2.00 inches, breaking the old record of 1.41 inches set in
1964. Severe storms rolled through the Kansas City, MO area on
the night of June 12, and wind gusts of 75 mph knocked out power to
more than 75,000 customers. In Kansas City, KS, lightning caused
a major fire at one generating substation. Repair crews transferred
customers to a second substation, and that substation was subsequently
struck by lightning, knocking out power to 11,000 customers.
A weak cold front pushed through Illinois and Indiana on the afternoon
of June 13, firing up a line of thunderstorms that rolled through
Indiana and Ohio (Figure 9). A
number of the storms in this line were severe and produced wind damage across
eastern Indiana, Ohio, and central Kentucky (Figure 10).
Round 4
A cluster of thunderstorms developed in Missouri and Iowa overnight on
June 13, and moved eastward into northern Illinois after sunrise on
June 14. The complex eventually developed into a line of
thunderstorms that marched across Indiana and Ohio during the afternoon
of June 14. Severe thunderstorm watches were issued areas ahead
of the storms from early morning on. Severe weather was reported
in Missouri during the early morning hours, and across much of northern
Indiana and Ohio during the afternoon and evening (Figure 11). A
preliminary storm damage survey by the Northern Indiana Office of the
National Weather Service indicated straight line winds of 80 to 100 mph
iccurred in northeastern Paulding
and northern Putnam Counties in northwestern Ohio. The storm
later spawned a F0 to F1 tornado as it moved into southwestern Henry County.