Midwest Weekly Highlights - February 1-8, 2020

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Widespread Warmth

Temperatures were well above normal across most of the Midwest during the week (Figure 1).  Areas in the Ohio River Valley, Illinois and Wisconsin were 6-9°F above normal, while the western third of the region was 2-5°F above normal.  Only a few areas in northern Minnesota were near to slightly above normal.  Maximum temperatures on February 2 (Figure 2) and February 3 (Figure 3) reached the 60s and 70s in the southern third of the region.  Colder air moved in throughout the rest of the week, but temperatures remained above normal for the full period.  Overall, more than 390 daily records were broken or tied (Figure 4), with more than 300 coming from high maximum temperatures.
 

Rain to the South

A dry week across the Midwest led to only a few areas of the southern Midwest receiving more than half an inch of precipitation (Figure 5).  Most of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and northern Missouri had less than half the normal amount (Figure 6), while most of Michigan and Illinois had less than 75 percent of normal.  However, conditions were wet across Kentucky, with areas of southern and eastern Kentucky receiving more than twice the normal amount.  Most of this precipitation fell along a slow-moving storm through the mornings of February 5 (Figure 7), February 6 (Figure 1) and February 7 (Figure 9).
 

Snow and Freezing Rain

Moderate snowfall impacted the central and southern Midwest through the mornings of February 6 (Figure 10) and February 7 (Figure 11).  Amounts of 2-4 inches fell from southwestern Missouri through central Illinois, northern Indiana and southern Lower Michigan, while scattered amounts of 1-2 inches fell across north-central Iowa, eastern Kentucky and Ohio.  Some areas in the U.P. of Michigan had more than six inches throughout the period (Figure 12).  Freezing rain was also observed to the south of the main band of snow on February 6.  Areas in central Indiana and northern Ohio had 0.1-0.5 inches of ice accumulation during the day.
 

-BJP-