April 10-16, 2005
Midwest Weekly Highlights - April 10-16, 2005
A Relatively Quiet Period
in the Midwest
After a stormy start, the weather in the Midwest returned to a mild and
dry regime, making for
nearly ideal planting conditions. Warm weather that began at
the end of the first nine days continued into this week.
Madison, WI reached 81F on April 10, the first time since last
September that the temperature had reached 80F or higher.
Muskegon, MI reached 76F, tying the record high for the date first set
in 1945. The low temperature of 54F at Rochester, MN is the
new record warm minimum temperature for April 10, breaking the old
record of 52F in 1977. Temperatures for the week were well
above normal, ranging from 3F above normal in eastern Ohio to 10F to
12F above normal across northern Minnesota through northwestern
Wisconsin (Figure 1).
This was the second warmest start for April in some locations in
southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Precipitation this
week was plentiful in
the western portions of the region (Figure 2), but
dry weather was
persistent in the northeast quarter of the Great Lakes from Michigan
southwestward into Wisconsin, eastern Indiana, and much of
Ohio.
Fire
Danger Results from Dry Weather in Great Lakes
The dry weather in the northeastern quarter of the Midwest is a pattern
that has persisted from March through the month of April so far
(Figure 3).
Dozens of wildfires flared up in Michigan, where
the lack of rain combined with warmer temperatures, low humidity, and
gusty winds have created ideal burning conditions. The
largest fire was in in Montmorency
County, where crews worked to
put
out
a fire that burned 250 acres at a hunting club. A fire that
started on private property spread into the Manistee National Forest
near the Lake
and
Oceana county line, burning 66
acres and destroying two
trailers and two outbuildings. U.S. Forest Service personnel
and a helicopter making 15 water drops helped control that
fire. Another mile-long fire destroyed two cottages along
Lake Michigan, burned beach stairways, and threatened 30 other cottages
before firefighters brought it under control. The Michigan
Department of Natural Resources has banned burning in the Lower
Peninsula and part of the Upper Peninsula.
Much
Needed Rain Accompanies Storms in the Central Midwest
Another upper level low pressure system in the Central Plains on April
11 (Figure 4)
triggered storms producing heavy rain as it moved slowly through the
Midwest. The area of much above normal rainfall from
Minnesota
south through northern Missouri came as a result of these
storms.
St. Joseph, MO set a new daily rainfall record of 1.31 inches for April
11, breaking the old record of 1.20 inches set in
1920. A
number of locations in Iowa set new daily rainfall records, including
Ames, measuring 2.23 inches and breaking the old record of 0.86 inches
set in 2002. In addition to the heavy rain, there were
numerous
reports of large hail across extreme western Missouri. The
heavy
rainfall from the storms prompted the issuance of flood and flash flood
warnings in parts of southwestern Missouri on April 11. Flash flood
warnings moved eastward with the rain in central and southeastern
Missouri and west central Illinois on late on April 11 and early on the
morning of April 12 (Figure 5). As the
low pressure system entered eastern Missouri
on April 12 conditions were ripe for the development of severe
thunderstorms. By midday a severe thunderstorm watch had been
issued fro the southern half of Illinois, southwestern Indiana, and the
western third of Kentucky (Figure 6).
Severe storms moved across central and southern Illinois, producing two
tornadoes in Illinois, a few reports of funnel clouds, and numerous
reports of large hail (Figure 7).
By the morning of April 13 the low pressure center was on the South
Carolina coast, and high pressure pushing south out of Canada brought
sunny and gradually warmer weather to the Midwest for the remainder of
the period.