February 15-21, 2006
Midwest Weekly Highlights - February 15-21, 2006
Warm Start, Frigid End
The weather the third week of February was
characterized by large temperature changes, spring-like severe weather,
and then mid-winter conditions. The week started off very
mild with temperatures reaching the 60s into the southern portions of
the region, but cold was poised to the north. This
Arctic air spread south across the Midwest during the middle of the
period and the result was the first week since December with
temperatures below normal across the entire Midwest (Figure 1).
Precipitation was above normal across the central
third of the region, with amounts exceeding twice normal for the week in
the southern half of Wisconsin and most of Michigan (Figure 2).
Much of this was snow associated with the intense
system that moved through the Midwest on February 15-16 (Figure 3).
The majority of the precipitation that fell missed the areas
most affected by drought in the Midwest, and conditions remained
essentially unchanged according to the U.S. Drought Monitor (Figure 4).
Everything but the
Kitchen Sink
As the week began, a weather battle zone was establishing itself across
the Midwest. A very cold Arctic air mass was pressing south
out of Canada, while warm air was streaming northward on the backside
of a high pressure system centered off of the Carolina coast (Figure 5). High temperatures on February 16 were below 0°F
in northwestern Minnesota, but in the low 70s in central Missouri
eastward into Kentucky (Figure 6). Joplin, MO tied a record
high of 72°F on February 15. On February 16 Vichy, MO set a
record high of 72°F, breaking the old record of 71°F
set in 1976. Record highs for February 16 were also set at
Mansfield, OH (59°F, old record 57°F in 1976), and tied
at Lincoln, IL 64°F (first set in 1921)
As the weather system developed a variety of watches and warnings were
issued, dealing with winter weather in the northern Midwest to severe
thunderstorms and tornadoes in the central Midwest. In the transition
zone right behind the cold front, freezing rain caused hazardous travel
in Iowa and northwestern Illinois. By late afternoon winter
storm warnings and advisories covered much of Iowa, Wisconsin, and
Michigan, while tornado watches stretched from Arkansas to Michigan
(Figure 7). A line of thunderstorms, some severe, developed
ahead of the cold front (Figure 8, UCAR/RAP). There were numerous
reports of 0.75 to 1.00 inch hail, particularly in southeastern
Missouri and southwestern Illinois (Figure 9). Golf-ball
sized hail fell in the St. Louis area, damaging cars and windows.
Hail piled up enough that it had top be shoveled off of
sidewalks in some areas. Two tornadoes were reported in Missouri and
two in Illinois. The tornadoes damaged some buildings and a
construction trailer. Damage to a church in Terre Haute, IN
and to buildings at the Terre Haute International Airport were
attributed to a F1 tornado that touched down on the east side of Terre
Haute and stayed on the ground about two miles.
In southeast Michigan, strong storms produced heavy rain and led to the
flooding of the Clinton River in Macomb County. The
flooding left two feet of water over the roads and flooded
basements. Complicating the flooding was the rapid drop of the
temperature to below freezing. The resultant icing of roads led to
numerous accidents. High winds with the thunderstorms left
252,000 customers of Consumers Energy without power.
Snow Buries
Southeastern Minnesota, Southern Wisconsin
While the central and southern portions of the Midwest were dealing
with severe thunderstorms, much of Iowa, southeastern Minnesota, and
southern Wisconsin was receiving heavy snow (Figure 10).
Record daily snowfall amounts were set in Rochester, MN: 6.6
inches; La Crosse, WI: 8.0 inches; Hokah, MN: 5.9
inches; Winona, MN: 5.7 inches; Caledonia, MN: 9.0 inches;
Rushford, MN: 7.0 inches; and Spring Valley, MN: 4.9 inches.
Records were tied at both Albert Lea, MN with 4.0 inches, and
at Fairmont, MN with 3.0 inches. The
heavy snow and high winds combined to produce blizzard-like conditions
over southern Wisconsin, in particular, where 6 to 12 inches fell. The
snow led to early closing of schools and businesses, including the
University of Wisconsin campus which canceled classes on the evening
of February 16. The last time the University of Wisconsin had
closed due to winter
weather was in December 1990. The snow was welcome in
northern Michigan, where it was hoped the snow and the upcoming
Presidents Day holiday weekend would bring snowmobilers and skiers into
the region. Lake effect snow occurred in the northwestern
portions of lower Michigan, with almost two feet of snow in some
locations. Kalkaska, MI received 22.0 inches of snow; Alpena,
MI 21.6 inches, Gaylord, MI 17.2 inches, and in the Upper
Peninsula the Marquette NWS office measured 17.3 inches. Snow
cover was one to two feet deep across northern Wisconsin and northern
Michigan in the wake of the storm (Figure 11).
Arctic Cold Knifes
Into Midwest
The storm continued into the northeastern U.S. on February 17 and
strong high pressure spread over the central plains and Midwest (Figure 12). Twenty-four hours after enjoying weather more typical of
mid-spring, much of the Midwest was struggling to reach the freezing
mark. In northwestern Minnesota, high temperatures remained
below 0°F for the second straight day (Figure 13).
The cold air was accompanied by strong northwesterly winds,
producing dangerous wind chills in many areas. By February 18
the coldest weather was found over the northern Midwest where snow cover
was the deepest (Figure 14). A number of record low
temperatures and record low high temperatures were set on February 18:
| DATE |
LOCATION | TEMPERATURE | RECORD | OLD RECORD |
| February 18, 2006 | Rhinelander, WI | -28°F | Minimum | -27°F, 1936 |
| Marshfield, WI | -26°F | Minimum | -25°F, 1939 | |
| La Crosse, WI | -21°F | Minimum | -18°F, 1903 | |
| Rochester, MN | -19°F | Minimum | -18°F, 1936 | |
| Rochester, MN | 4°F | Low maximum | 5°F, 1966 | |
| Dubuque, IA | -18°F | Minimum | -17°F, 1936 | |
| Moline, IL | 7°F tie | Low maximum | 7°F, 1903 | |
| February 20, 2006 | Jackson, KY | 21°F | Minimum | 24°F, 1999 |
| Jackson, KY | 33°F | Low maximum | 35°F, 1993 |
On February 19-20 a weak upper level disturbance traveling along the edge of the Arctic air mass brought light snow to the far southern portion of the Midwest. One to three inches of snow fell in a band from southwestern Missouri through southern Kentucky (Figure 15). The week ended quietly as the high pressure system weakened and moved off to the east and temperatures moderated throughout the Midwest.
SDH