Midwest Weekly Highlights - August 25-31, 2010

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Cooler Temperatures Move Into Missouri

The last week of August saw some cooler temperatures move into the Midwest. Morning lows during the week dipped into the 50s for nearly all of the region, with 40s and even some 30s in the upper Midwest (Figure 1). For the week, temperatures were below normal in Missouri and parts of neighboring states and above normal in the upper Midwest (Figure 2). The largest negative departures were in central Missouri where it was 3° to 4°F below normal. The largest positive departures were in northeast Minnesota and the U. P. of Michigan with temperatures in excess of 6°F above normal. Daily temperature records switched from record lows early in the week to record highs later in the week.
 

A Dry Week Across the Region

Rainfall was scarce during the week. Rainfall totals were below normal everywhere but western Minnesota which received its rain on the 31st (Figure 3). A large swath of the eastern Midwest, from central Kentucky to southern Michigan, received no rain (Figure 4). Some daily precipitation records were set, mostly on the 31st.
 

Dry Conditions Noted in Drought Monitor

The August 31st edition of the Drought Monitor showed a large expansion of abnormally dry conditions in the eastern Midwest (Figure 5). States with significantly more coverage were Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.
 

Flooding Continues to Ease

The dry weather was welcome in Iowa following a very wet summer. Rivers continued to drop and by the end of August only the Des Moines River in southeast Iowa was above flood stage. Ottumwa, Iowa (Wapello County) was at moderate flood stage and some sites both up and down stream were at minor flood stage.
 

Harvest Off to a Fast Start

Unlike 2009, the harvest in 2010 is off to a fast start. The summer's warmth led to an early maturation of crops and the recent dry weather has created ideal conditions for fieldwork. The recent dryness has been a positive in Iowa where rainfall had been plentiful but it has hurt crops further east where the past several weeks left crops lacking water.
 

-MST-