January 18-24, 2007
Midwest Weekly Highlights - January 18-24, 2007
Seasonal Winter Weather
The third week of January featured temperatures somewhat closer to long-term averages. Temperature departures this week were warmest in the northwest portions of the region, and coolest in the southwest reaches. In central and northern Minnesota, temperature departures ranged from 3-5°F above normal, while in southwest Missouri and southern Iowa, departures were 3-5°F below normal (Figure 1). Elsewhere, a bubble of warmth was found over southern Illinois and central Indiana (where there is no snow cover). Here, temperature departures were 1-3°F above normal. The remainder of the region hovered right around average for this time of year. Interestingly enough, the cooler weather is something of a change to citizens in Chicago, IL, as the current stretch of nine consecutive days where the maximum temperature has been at or below 32°F hasn't been done since January 22-31, 2004!!
Precipitation during the third week of January was generally below normal, despite frequent chances for snow. The highest precipitation totals were found across western Iowa and much of Missouri were totals were 125 to 200% of normal. Meanwhile, a continued stripe of below average precipitation was found across the drought-stricken region of northern and central Minnesota eastward into northern and central Wisconsin, where totals this week ranged from 0% to 25% of normal (Figure 2). Drier than normal conditions were found across most of Michigan, eastern Illinois, and most of Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, where precipitation totals were generally 50-75% of the long-term average.
Snowfall this week was found across most of the Midwest, with one larger storm system on the 20-21, and several "Alberta Clippers" racing through the region during the latter part of the week (Figure 3). The heaviest snowfall this week was found across western and central Iowa and upper Lower Michigan, were up to 8 inches of snow was reported. Generally speaking, however, a coating of 1-4" was found across the Midwest this week, with the exception being extreme northern Minnesota and most of Kentucky, where no snow fell. At the conclusion of the third week of January, snow depth was running greater than five inches across nearly all of Iowa, most of Wisconsin, and just portions of Minnesota and Michigan (Figure 4). Elsewhere, snow cover was at or below generally two inches. In fact, in Evansville, IN, January 24 (and possibly beyond) marks the latest date in recorded history that no snow has fallen. The previous record was January 22, 1965. The lack of precipitation in the northern Midwest did little to aid the drought status there, and largely across the remainder of the Midwest drought conditions remained unchanged from last week.
Let it Snow! Let it Snow!
On January 20, an area of low pressure developed in the lee of the southern Rockies and then started to move northeast across Oklahoma and Kansas during the night of the 20th (Figure 5). Widespread light to moderate snow occurred with this winter system across portions of Missouri and Iowa during the night of the 20th and totals of 4 to 8 inches were common across this region. On January 21, the winter storm had moved into eastern Kansas and the snow had spread across all of Iowa and the southern portions of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Snowfall amounts varied across the Midwest, with central Illinois seeing a range of 1-4" (Figure 6, NWS Central Illinois) and southern Minnesota experienced 6-8" of snow (Figure 7, NWS Chanhassen, MN ). The Kansas City, MO area, where residents were still working on cleaning up from the recent ice storm, experienced generally 4-6" of snow (Figure 8, NWS Kansas City, MO). Further east, the St. Louis, MO area saw a mix of rain, sleet, snow, and some ice, with generally 4-5" of snow across the central portions of the city (Figure 9, NWS St. Louis, MO). Impacts across the region were rather minimal, aside from a few fender-benders. The most unfortunate part of the storm was that it was quick on the heels of a major ice storm, where residents were still recovering, trying to get power restored and their lives back on track. The new several inches of snow did suppress the recovery, but fortunately, most places did not receive much additional freezing rain this week, allowing for a more rapid turnabout.
A quick-moving Alberta Clipper raced through the region on January 22-23, producing a very narrow band of light snow across southern Minnesota, much of Iowa, central Illinois eastward into central Indiana. Snowfall amounts were generally a half-inch up to as much as 2 inches (Figure 10). After the passage of this wave, cloudy skies prevailed with lake-effect snow the dominant feature in Michigan and extreme eastern Ohio.
Will the final week of January feature more snow or will temperatures warm back up again? Find out in next week's edition of the Midwest Climate Watch.
Kruk