Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Midwest Region - March 2018

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Midwest Region for December 2017 – February 2018.  Dated March 2018.  

February was the wettest on record for the Midwest region and statewide in Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri. Ohio had its second wettest February while both Kentucky and Michigan ranked 3rd wettest. Precipitation totals for the latter half of February were more than double normal for over half of the Midwest including nearly all of the southeastern two-thirds of the region. Totals of more than 400% of normal, and even some 500% of normal, stretched from southern Missouri to southwestern Michigan and along the Ohio River. More than 500 daily precipitation records were recorded in these two weeks.

NOAA’s Regional Climate Services Program created these Climate Outlooks to inform the public about recent climate impacts within their respective regions. Each regional report contains easy-to-understand language, and anyone can access them through the Drought Portal at https://www.drought.gov/drought/resources/reports.