Midwest Weekly Highlights - June 8-14, 2011

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Heavy Rains in Iowa

Iowa received the heaviest rains during the second week of June. Rainfall totals in Iowa topped 7" for the week (Figure 1) at several stations with many daily precipitation records set on the 10th and 14th. The upper Midwest, western Missouri, and most of Kentucky received less than 50% of normal precipitation while parts of Iowa, northeast Missouri, and west central to southern Illinois received more than double their normal rainfall (Figure 2). Other locations recording double their normal rainfall were near Chicago, Cincinnati, and northern reaches of lower Michigan. The Midwest remained free of drought with just some long-term dryness noted near Lake Superior (Figure 3).
 

Cooling Off

Temperatures across the region dropped during the second week of the month. The week began with warm temperatures for nearly all locations (Figure 4) but cooler temperatures moved south and temperatures were mostly below normal by the end of the week (Figure 5). Daily temperature records followed a similar pattern with record highs early switching to record lows later in the week. Averaged for the week, temperatures ranged from 8°F below normal in Minnesota to 6°F above normal in Missouri (Figure 6).
 

Corn Planting Nears Completion

Farmers were busy in the fields with the dry and hot conditions early in the week. Corn planting was nearing completion with remaining fields possibly being switched to soybeans. Soybean planting also made large strides during the week with most locations making up ground on normal planting schedules.
 

Severe Weather Widespread Again

Severe weather was again reported in all nine Midwest states during the week, though Minnesota had just a lone hail report (Figure 7). Tornado reports came from Iowa (Blackhawk County) and Wisconsin (Dane County) on the 8th and from northern Missouri (Linn and Macomb Counties) on the 14th. Hail 1" or greater in diameter was reported in each state, 2" to 3" hail was reported in five states but was most common in Missouri. All seven days had reports of hail 1" or greater and five days had reports of hail 2" or greater. The largest hail reported was 3" in diameter on the 9th in Missouri (Daviess and Chariton Counties). Wind damage reports also were spread across the Midwest, sparing only Minnesota and northern Wisconsin. Reports of 70 to 80 mph winds came from seven states, skipping only Minnesota and Kentucky.
 

Missouri River Flooding

Moderate flooding on the Missouri River continued during the week. A levee in northwest Missouri (Atchison County) which had partially breached the previous week, developed two full breaches on June 13th. Flood waters flowed across rural areas towards Hamburg, Iowa (Fremont County) where a second levee was hastily being constructed to protect the town. Flooding was expected to remain at moderate levels for weeks with flood control dams in the Dakotas wide open and snow melt from heavy snows in the upper Missouri basin soon to follow. Along the west edge of Iowa, Interstate 29 was closed at multiple locations due to flooding from the river. I29 closures in Iowa were near Sioux City (Woodbury County), Council Bluffs (Pottawattamie County), and Hamburg (Fremont County) and in Missouri (Atchison County).
 

-MST-