According to today's Drought Monitor report of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), for the week, light precipitation accumulations (<2 inches) were observed across most of the region with higher totals observed in the Ohio River Valley in southern portions of Indiana and Ohio.
On the map, no changes were made in the region, and drought-free conditions were present across most of the region with the exception of areas of drought in southwestern Minnesota, western Iowa, and Missouri.
Average temperatures for the week were above normal (1 to 6 degrees F) across most of the region except for areas of Minnesota and northern Wisconsin where temperatures ranged from 2 to 12 degrees F below normal.
According to NOAA NCEI, average temperatures were near normal across much of the region during March 2023. However, cooler-than-normal temperatures were observed in Minnesota (30th coldest, -4.0 degrees F anomaly) while Michigan was above normal (42nd warmest, +2.5 degrees F anomaly).