Midwest Weekly Highlights - February 15-21, 2011

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Above Normal Temperatures

The third week of February brought above normal temperatures across the Midwest (Figure 1). Departures ranged from a couple degrees in northwest Minnesota to nearly 15°F above normal along Interstate 44 in Missouri . More than 500 record highs, but no record lows, were recorded during the week.
 

More Snow for the Upper Midwest

The first five days of the week were dry for most stations in the Midwest (Figure 2). A storm packing heavy snow moved out of the Dakotas and took aim on on the upper Midwest late in the week (Figure 3). Snowfall totals exceeded a foot in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, including Minneapolis with 14 inches. The snow in Minneapolis (Hennepin County) pushed the season total to-date into the top three in history. Even if there is no more snow this season, Minneapolis will record their 11th highest snow total. This one storm brought nearly all of the region's precipitation for the week. Along the storm track, totals were two to six times normal but to the north and south, totals dropped off to less than 10% of normal (Figure 4).
 

Snow Melt Accelerates

The warm weather during the week took a toll on the snow pack. Widespread snow on the ground on the 14th (Figure 5) retreated to the north by the 20th (Figure 6). The storm late in the week reestablished the snow pack across the upper Midwest by the end of the week (Figure 7). The melting snow caused minor flooding across the middle of the region (Figure 8).
 

-MST-