Spring 2017 Climate Summary: Warm and Wet with some areas excessively wet in southeast Missouri and southern Illinois

Overview and Graphics
Seasonal Summary
Records

Overview and Graphics

Meteorological Spring 2017 (March 1 – May 31) was warmer and wetter than normal across our forecast area. Temperatures were 2 to 4 degrees above normal, with all 3 of our official climate stations placing in the top 10 warmest springs. The greatest temperature departures compared to normal occurred in April, while May was the coolest month (compared to normal), finishing near or just slightly above normal. This spring was wetter than normal for a large portion of the region, with some areas experiencing an excessively wet to near record wet spring. The highest amounts were focused over much of southeast Missouri into southwest Illinois, where totals were anywhere from 20 to 30 inches, with some isolated higher amounts. These amounts were anywhere from 6-12+ inches above seasonal normals. The highest amount received was 32.79” at the COOP station at Lake Wappapello MO. It was a different story across a good chunk of western Kentucky and even some far northern counties like Edwards and Wabash Illinois, where spring rainfall averaged near or even somewhat below normal. Normal rainfall for a spring season is around 13 to 15 inches for our area. We had several episodes of severe weather, with the most notable events occurring on March 1, March 9, and May 27. Since the beginning of the year, our forecast area has had 23 confirmed tornadoes, with 18 of those occurring between the March 9 event and the February 28 into early March 1 event. The most impactful heavy rain/flooding event occurred during the April 28-30 timeframe, which lead to water levels on many area rivers rising into major to record flood levels. This included the Current River at Van Buren which crested 8 feet above their previous record crest set back in 1904!

Spring 2017 Review: Precipitation and Temperature Maps (CLICK TO ENLARGE IMAGE)

Climate Maps are from the Northeast Regional Climate Center

Seasonal Summary Listings of normals and records for Paducah, Evansville, and Cape Girardeau

Seasonal Climate Report: Paducah | Evansville | Cape Girardeau

Records Listing of records for Paducah, Evansville, and Cape Girardaeu

Record Event Reports: Paducah | Evansville | Cape Girardeau