Midwest Weekly Highlights - May 8-14, 2012

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Dry Weather for Most of the Midwest

Rainfall was below normal in all but the southeast quarter of the region (Figure 1). Most of the western two-thirds of the region was 0.50" to 1.50" below normal for the week. Parts of Kentucky were the wettest with totals exceeding normal by 1.00" to 1.50". Rainfall totals ranged from 0.00" in Iowa to over 3.00" at a handful of stations in Kentucky (Figure 2). The US Drought Monitor showed improvements on May 8th (Figure 3), due to rains in the first week of May. No severe weather was reported in the region during the week.
 

Near Normal Temperatures

Seasonal temperatures were common across the Midwest with only the upper Midwest more than 3 °F from normal (Figure 4). The warm temperatures in the north were mostly due to warm maximum temperatures, 5°F to 10°F above normal (Figure 5), while minimum temperatures were closer to normal (Figure 6). With temperatures near normal just a handful of temperature records were set.
 

Planting Stays Ahead of Normal

Planting of corn and soybeans remained ahead of schedule across the Midwest. After a rapid start in April, the pace of planting slowed slightly due to rains in early May, but the pace picked back up as fields again dried out.

 

-MST-