February 15-21: An Active Weather Pattern Begins.

The week of February 15-21 started with a dry cold front moving into the Midwest, followed by a quick return to warmer southwesterly flow as the high pressure center moved to the east coast. A strong low pressure center from Kansas entered the region on the 19th, accounting for most of the precipitation during the week. A zone from southern Missouri to Michigan received 1-3 inches of precipitation (Figure 17), which is more than 200% of normal for the week (Figure 18). In Wisconsin and Michigan, rain shifted to heavy snow in the northern parts of those states, providing the bulk of the 6-18 inches of snow fall recorded during the period (Figure 19). The tremendous warmth earlier in the week resulted in the northwestern Midwest being up to 18°F above normal, while the southeastern tier of the region remained just on the warm side of normal (Figure 20). Most of the western and northern Midwest was greater than 6°F above normal for the week. The warmth and lack of moisture in the northwestern Midwest and eastern Midwest caused the abnormally dry ratings in both areas to spread over more territory, although most of the Midwest presently has adequate to abundant moisture (Figure 21, National Drought Mitigation Center).

The storm moved quite slowly through the Midwest, taking a full three days to traverse the region. The most energetic rains and storms occurred on the 20th (Figure 22, NWS), leaving behind some minor flooding and 46 reports of severe hail or winds centered in the Ohio Valley (Figure 23, Storm Prediction Center). One person was injured when a mobile home was blown over in New Albany, IN, but damage elsewhere from the storms was generally light.