Midwest Weekly Highlights - October 11-17, 2011

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Rains Return

Following a dry start to the month, the second week of October saw rain scattered across the area (Figure 1). Totals varied widely from less than 25% of normal to as much as 300% of normal (Figure 2). Few changes were made to the Drought Monitor as pockets of Moderate to Severe Drought persisted in the western half of the region (Figure 3). Daily precipitation records, more than 100 for the week, were set or tied in all nine states and on each day of the week.
 

Warm Temperatures Again

Another week of above normal temperatures were the rule across the Midwest. Temperatures ranged from near normal near the Iowa-Missouri border up to 6°F above normal near Lake Michigan (Figure 4). In the northern half of the region there was a clear cooling trend during the week with most of the record high daily temperatures set early in the week, however in the south, warmth ramped up late in the week.
 

Strong Winds

A low pressure system lingered in Canada for a couple days (Figure 5), bringing strong northwesterly winds to the upper Midwest. The strong winds whipped up high waves on the Great Lakes and capsized a boat on Saginaw Bay (Bay County). The family and their dog were all rescued but suffered from hypothermia. Smaller bodies of water were not spared. Four people were rescued after their boat capsized on Lake Menomin, WI (Dunn County). Winds knocked out power to more than 80,000 in southeast Michigan alone and thousands more in scattered outages across the upper Midwest. Trees were blown down in many locations including some trees measuring three feet across in the Upper Peninsula (Luce County).
 

Hail

Thunderstorms on the 12th brought severe weather back to the region (Figure 6). Hail measuring 1" to 1.25" was reported in southwest Missouri (Christian, Lawrence, Stone, and Vernon Counties) as well as in Askov, MN (Pine County).
 

-MST-