Midwest Weekly Highlights - June 1-7, 2011

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Hot Weather to Start June

The Midwest was above normal for the first week of June. Temperatures averaged from 3°F to 11°F above normal across the region with the exception of extreme northern Minnesota where temperatures were slightly below normal (Figure 1). Temperatures reached triple digits in the Minneapolis area on June 7th (Figure 2). The daily record 103°F reading at the MSP International Airport was the warmest reading since 1988 and the warmest June temperature since 1934. Winds up to 30 mph in the Minneapolis area had residents comparing the conditions to a blast furnace. More than 500 record high maximum temperature records were set across the region during the week.
 

Drier than Normal Conditions

Below normal rainfall fell across most of the Midwest. Above normal totals fell in the far north and along a swath from northwest Missouri to eastern Ohio (Figure 3). Despite the generally dry conditions, severe weather was reported in all nine states (Figure 4). The Midwest remained drought free with only a couple small areas in the upper Midwest categorized as Abnormally Dry in the US Drought Monitor (Figure 5).
 

Strong Non-convective Winds in Upper Midwest to Start Month

Strong non-convective winds swept the upper Midwest on June 1st and 2nd. Wind speeds up to 50 mph were reported across much of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Power outages affected 11,000 customers of Wisconsin Public Service Corp. in northeast Wisconsin.
 

Hail and Wind Damage

Hail, including some very large hail, fell on each day of the first week of June. Every state except Kentucky reported at least golf ball sized hail (1.75"). The largest hail fell on June 5th, 15 to 20 miles southwest of the Wisconsin Dells (Sauk County), with multiple reports of 4" hail. A dozen reports in Monroe and Sauk Counties indicated hail of at least golf ball size. June 4th storms led to 15 reports of golf ball sized hail from Illinois to Ohio. Large, irregular shaped hail stones were photographed (Figure 6) in Manhattan, Illinois (Will County).

Wind damage reports extended from west central Illinois to Ohio with additional reports in Upper Michigan and western Kentucky. The majority of the reports came from Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio on the 4th. More than 60 reports of wind damage from Indiana included a fatality and three injuries from a tree falling on an occupied vehicle in Anderson (Madison County). Additional Indiana reports included major tree damage, power poles down, and barn roofs damaged. In Illinois there were dozens of reports of significant tree damage and downed power lines and poles. A couple dozen Ohio reports included several indicating severe tree damage and downed power lines. Widespread power outages occurred in the affected areas including 45,000 in the Indianapolis area alone.
 

A Lone Tornado Report

Only one tornado was reported during the week. Citizens reported a tornado on the ground in northwest Indiana (Pulaski County) in the early evening on June 4th. There were no reports of injuries directly associated with this unconfirmed tornado but trees and buildings in the vicinity were damaged.
 

Corn and Soybean Planting Continues

The dry weather allowed for several days of fieldwork (Figure 7) and planting progress across the Midwest. Corn and soybean planting continues to lag in the east but good progress was made planting both crops during the week. Western states in the region have nearly completed corn planting and soybean planting was rapidly approaching the 5-year averages.

 

Missouri River Flooding

Heavy rains in the northern Great Plains have completely filled flood retention basins in the Dakotas. Large releases from the six dams are swelling the Missouri River beyond flood stage and are expected to continue to do so for much of the summer. The basins need to be rapidly lowered in order to absorb the expected heavy runoff from the melting of the 40% above normal snow pack in the Rockies that will soon be coming downstream.

Concerns about the levee system from the Dakotas to Missouri are mounting as water levels will remain high for at least several weeks. Any heavy rains during this period will further exacerbate the flooding problems already anticipated. The first levee breaches occurred in northwest Missouri (Atchison County) on the 5th and 6th which led to mandatory evacuations for hundreds of people in Hamburg, Iowa (Fremont County). The repairs done will only delay the anticipated full breach so a secondary flood protection wall is under construction to protect the town.
 

-MST-
The Minnesota State Climatology Office also contributed to this report.