NATIONAL WEATHER SUMMARY

 

APRIL 2015

 

5-11…A more typical spring pattern brought beneficial precipitation to parts of the upper Midwest, but left many other areas of the Midwest including the Ohio Valley with muddy fields and pockets of lowland flooding. California and neighboring areas also got a reprieve from unusual warmth, with below normal temperatures prevailing for several days. In contrast, early-April warmth stretched from the central and southern Rockies eastward into the Ohio Valley and the southern Atlantic States where weekly readings averaging as much as 10F above normal in some locations. Frigid, early week conditions set records in New England. In Maine, monthly record low temperatures were established on April 6 in Houlton (-13F) and Caribou (-4F). Previously, Houlton’s record had been -6F on April 10, 1977, while Caribou’s had been -2F on April 2, 1964. By April 11, Caribou’s snow depth stood at 6 inches it was the least amount of snow on the ground in that location since January 3. Farther south, enough cool air settled across the Mid-Atlantic States on April 5 to set a daily record low (29F) in Danville, VA. In contrast, scattered record highs in Florida included 91F (on April 8) in Tallahassee and 90°F (on April 5) in Fort Myers. From April 7-9, warmth also surged across the central and southeastern U.S. in advance of a cold front. Selected daily record highs reached 85F (on April 7) in Kansas City, MO; 87F (on April 8) in Baton Rouge, LA; and 92F (on April 9) in Columbia, SC. For Columbia, it was the first 90-degree reading since October 11, 2014. Meanwhile in Arizona, a daily record low of 11F was reported on April 9 at Sunset Crater National Monument.

 

12-18…Warm, mostly dry weather prevailed from the northern Plains into the Northeast. Warm conditions were especially prominent across the Midwest, where temperatures generally averaged 8 to 14F above normal. Warm weather covered many areas of the U.S., especially in advance of a strong, winter-like Western storm system. On April 12, the week opened with daily record highs in locations such as Sandberg, CA (81F), and Duluth, MN

(76F). The following day, record setting highs for April 13 included 81F in Watertown, NY, and 77F in Eureka, NV. By April 14, temperatures soared to daily record levels in Miles City, MT (84), and Casper, WY (78F). In the wake of the Western storm, plunging temperatures led to daily record lows in Winnemucca, NV (9F on April 15), and Bozeman, MT (13F on April 16). By week’s end, however, warmth returned to the Pacific Coast States. Record setting highs in California climbed to 86F (on April 17) in Santa Cruz and 92F (on April 18) in

Redding. Late-week heat also overspread Florida’s peninsula, where record setting highs for April 18 surged to 93F in Melbourne and West Palm Beach.

 

19-25…Mostly dry weather persisted across the northern Plains and far upper Midwest. Despite the open weather in those regions, planting activities were limited by a return to cold weather. Weekly temperatures averaged at least 5F below normal in many locations from the upper Mississippi Valley into the Great Lakes region. On the Great Plains from Nebraska southward, recent and ongoing soil moisture improvements helped to stabilize winter wheat yield prospects. Early in the week, very warm weather returned to the Pacific

Coast States. Redding, CA, posted a daily-record high of 93F on April 19. Warm weather also dominated the Deep South, where selected daily record highs included 92F (on April 20) in Miami, FL; 91F (on April 25) in Lufkin, TX; and 89F (on April 25) in Shreveport, LA. In contrast, cool, occasionally windy weather stretched from the Midwest into the Northeast.

On April 22, the high temperature in Rhinelander, WI, failed to exceed the freezing mark peaking at 32F. During the second half of the week, daily-record lows dipped to 22F (on

April 23) in Mason City, IA; 23F (on April 24) in Toledo, OH; 24°F (on April 24) in Flint, MI; and 27F (on April 25) in Allentown, PA. Weekly temperatures averaged more than 10F above normal in the northern half of Alaska, but were closer to normal across the state’s southern tier.


Jim G. Munley, jr.
http://www.jimmunleywx.com



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