November 2005
Midwest Overview - November, 2005
November 2005: Wet, Mild, and Wild in the Midwest
Much of the Midwest received above normal amounts of precipitation during November, including a swath from southern Missouri through southern Indiana, Minnesota, and the Great Lakes snow belts (Figure 1). The Midwest as a whole had its 30th wettest November since 1895, with Michigan the highest ranked individual state, having its 6th wettest November on record. Unfortunately, not all of the wet weather reached the core drought regions in Iowa and Illinois, which were still below normal on their central and southern portions (Figure 2). Kentucky was also drier than normal, and drought continued to develop, especially in the eastern part of the state. Temperatures turned colder during the last half of the month, leading to abundant snowfall in the lake effect belts in Michigan and Ohio (Figure 3). Snowfall totals in these zones were 150 to 200% of normal for the month. The snow also cooled local environments enough late in the month that the overall temperature average for November was about normal near the lakes (Figure 4). However, elsewhere in the Midwest, even in central Michigan, temperatures were generally 2-5°F above normal, with the Midwest as a whole ranking 17th warmest since 1895. The warmest individual states were Iowa (15th warmest), Illinois (16th warmest), and Missouri (17th warmest). The U.S. Drought Monitor map at the end of the month (Figure 5, National Drought Mitigation Center) indicated continuing dryness in the core drought region of southern and eastern Iowa and northern Illinois, with some drought intensification in Kentucky. Even with surface amelioration in the Great Lakes region, Lake Michigan-Huron levels fell still closer towards recent 2003 lows due to the lack of summer recharge, and are approaching the early 1960s low level record (Figure 6, Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab). River levels along the central Mississippi south of St. Louis and along much of the Illinois River were also low enough to begin to impact barge traffic.
During November, 4 major severe weather outbreaks
impacted the central and southern Midwest; they are
documented in detail in the weekly reports linked on the
upper right of this page. The largest financial and human
losses occurred with the first November outbreak late on
the 5th and early on the 6th. The Evansville, IN, tornado,
an F-3, claimed 23 lives, injured more than 200, and was
the largest loss of life in a thunderstorm generated severe
weather event of 2005.
The next outbreak occurred on November 12 in central
Iowa, and one person was killed in their home. A third outbreak
occurred on November 15, affecting Missouri, Illinois,
Kentucky, and Indiana. One person died in Kentucky in a
rare F-4 tornado that went through a rural area near
Madisonville, KY.
Finally, despite more than a week of cold
weather separating events, one last severe outbreak
occurred on November 27-28, causing one death in Briar,
MO.
Overall, 26 deaths, hundreds of injuries, hundreds of
destroyed and damaged homes and businesses, and tens
of millions of dollars in damage resulted from the 73
tornadoes and hundreds of severe wind and hail events
reported in the Midwest this November.
Seasonal Summary: Fall 2005
The three-month period of September, October, and November 2005 was a time of contrasts in the Midwest. One wide swath running from southern Missouri though Ohio, and a second swath from Minnesota to Michigan, both received more than 10 inches of precipitation throughout (Figure 7). In the case of the southern swath, this was only slightly above normal despite the moisture boost from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but in the case of the northern swath in Minnesota, this was well above normal (Figure 8). In between the two bands of precipitation, however, below normal conditions reigned, intensifying drought in southern Iowa and eastern Kentucky. While the Midwest as a whole was near the median for seasonal precipitation, Minnesota had its 4th wettest fall since 1895, while Kentucky had its 6th driest fall. Unlike precipitation, warmer than normal temperatures were recorded throughout the region. The southern half of the Midwest was 1-3°F above normal for the season, while the northern half was 3-5°F above normal (Figure 9). Fall 2005 tied with 1998 as the 3rd warmest on record for the Midwest, exceeded only by 1931 and 1963. Noteworthy top-five warmest state rankings included Wisconsin (3rd), Iowa (3rd), Minnesota (4th), and Illinois (5th). A sharp turn towards colder condition in the second half of November prevented records from being set, and set the stage for a quite different season to follow.