Midwest Weekly Highlights - December 11-17, 2011

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Heavy Precipitation Splits Midwest

The second week of December brought heavy rains to the middle of the region, topping 2" in some locations. Rainfall totals exceeded three times normal from the Iowa-Missouri border eastward to northwest Indiana (Figure 1). Totals dropped to less than half of normal to the southeast and the northwest. Much of the rain fell on the 14th and 15th, too late to be reflected in the US Drought Monitor (Figure 2). Most of the precipitation records were set on the 14th and 15th as well.
 

Record Warmth

Temperatures averaged well above normal for the week. Departures from normal ranged from 3°F to 5°F in the southeast up to 10°F to 13°F across the upper Midwest (Figure 3). More than 300 daily temperature records were set, all record highs, with records on each day of the week except the 17th. Snow on the ground from previous storms (Figure 4), was melting during the week (Figure 5) until some new snow fell on the last day of the week (Figure 6).
 

River Flooding in Indiana

Rivers in Indiana, and into some neighboring states, remained above flood stage (Figure 7). Most of the flooding remained minor but a few locations, mainly in northern Indiana on the Tippecanoe River, reached moderate or major flood levels during the week (Figure 8).
 

-MST-