Midwest Weekly Highlights - February 16-22, 2020

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Winter Cold Remains

For the second consecutive week, the Midwest was mostly colder than normal (Figure 1).  Areas of Minnesota and Wisconsin were 5-8°F below normal, while the remainder of the region was mostly 1-4°F below normal.  Minimum temperatures in Minnesota, Wisconsin and northern Iowa were even colder for the period (Figure 2).  Temperatures well below 0°F were recorded through the mornings of February 20 (Figure 3) and February 21 (Figure 4), with areas in northern Minnesota more than 20°F below normal on the morning of February 20.  However, very few records were broken across the region (Figure 5) as these temperatures are common in the Upper Midwest in February.
 

Fairly Dry Week

Only a few areas of the Midwest had significant precipitation over half an inch during the period (Figure 6).  Missouri and most of Minnesota had less than a tenth of an inch, while amounts between a quarter and half an inch were common in northern Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, northern Indiana, central Illinois and Kentucky.  As a result, only a few areas of northern Iowa, southeastern Minnesota, Wisconsin and the U.P. of Michigan had more than the normal amount (Figure 7).  Snowfall amounts in the Upper Midwest ranged mostly from 2-5 inches (Figure 8), with some areas of Michigan receiving more than five inches.  Most of this snowfall occurred through the morning of February 18 (Figure 9).  Several dozen daily precipitation(Figure 10) and snowfall records (Figure 11) were broken across the Midwest.
 
-BJP-