Recapping A Wild April 2011

April 2011 liked to tease, liked to bring flings of heat, and then slap you with reality.   Temperatures for the month did average 3.7 degrees above where they should (56.8 degrees is the monthly temp) and April 2011 ended up 9th warmest in modern record.   However, April was arguably a very volatile month as temperatures swung wildly over a few days time at more than one point through the month -- a bit more atypical of Aprils where we tend to have one spike after a cold shot.  We had four spikes through the month, with the fourth spike helping to push us to the 9th warmest April standing.

Temperatures had a 50 degree spread during the month from a low of 35 on the 1st, 2nd, and 6th to a high of 85 on the 25th....but a 44 degree spread over 48 hours between the 2nd and 4th of the month.    This was also the first April since 2007 to get at least some snow (a trace fell on the 1st at the Airport, while others picked up a couple of inches).   The month, despite its warmth, was volatile as temperatures did not remain above or below average more than a three days at any stretch except for the last warm wave at the end of April.

Rainfall for the month totaled 5.29" -- among the wetter Aprils but not a top ten mark as 6.12" from April 1970 places 10th.