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May 2018 Weather Recap - Big Rebound From April

April 2018 Weather Recap - Chilly, Snowy, Rainy

 

Rainy day in new york

 

Like four of the past five months, April was colder than average.  (February, the mildest on record, was the outlier.)  This was the chilliest April since 1975, 3.5 degrees below average.  Eight days had mean temperatures ten degrees or more colder than average (and half of the month's days were five degrees or more below average).  Just three days had highs of 70°+, the fewest since April 2000.  Two of them were back-to-back: 82° and 77° on 4/13 and 4/14.  Earlier that week the month's coldest temperature, 32°, was posted on consecutive days, on-par with what the coldest reading is during a typical April (33°).  However, the number of days with highs chillier than 50° (nine) and lows in the 30s (sixteen) was well above average (three and five days, respectively). 

 

April was also a wet month, with 5.78" of precipitation measured, making it the third month in a row to receive more than five inches (5.83" fell in February, 5.17" in March).  The last time this occurred was August-October 2011.  More than half of the month's precipitation fell during a rainstorm on 4/15-16 that dropped 3.29", the biggest deluge since April 30, 2014.  Finally, Easter, which fell on 4/1, was sunny and pleasant, with a high of 60°.  However, 5.5" of snow fell the next morning (forcing postponement of the Yankees' home opener).  This was the biggest snowfall in April since 1982.

 

Snow on yankees home opener

 

April 2018 was just one of three Aprils since 1970 to have an average temperature below 50.0 degrees (coming in at 49.5).  Before 1970, however, April temperatures this cool were much more common, with half of the Aprils between 1869 and 1969 being that chilly.  Therefore, when compared to all Aprils, this April ranks as 44th coolest overall.  Finally, March and April 2018 combined were the coldest first two months of meteorological spring since 1984, and the third coldest in the years since 1970.

 

For recaps of the past two Aprils double-click here: April 2017 and April 2016 

 

 Apr 22 st lukes garden

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

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Ken K. in NJ

The NY Daily News Weather Almanac, published annually from the late 1950s thru 1971, always listed the April historical average Temperature as 50 degrees, based on official NYC readings. Clearly that average has crept up by a couple of degrees since then. Perhaps more than any other month.

Rob

Hi Ken,
It makes sense that it would have been reported as 50 degrees since half of the Aprils before 1970 were below and half above that reading. FYI, March and April are the two months that have warmed up the most compared to the pre-1930 era.

William

this month had fourteen days of measurable precipitation (and the third consecutive month with at least twelve such days), tying several other years as the third most on record for April and the most in April since 2004 when there were fifteen. however, this month had over an inch and a half more rain than April 2004.

William

despite this also being the eighth coldest April since 1940, my sister and I thank mother nature for providing us with excellent weather conditions on our birthdays. temperatures on both days were around 70° with little to no wind and mostly sunny to clear skies. I spent a portion of the day walking outside wearing shorts and a short sleeve shirt.

William

this was the chilliest April to have the month's coldest reading be at 32° or warmer since 1961 (the average mean temp was 49.0°) when the coldest reading was 34°. by coincidence, the Aprils of 1961 and 2018 both had the same warmest reading of 82°.

William

this April joined 1988, 1940, 1929, 1919 and 1916 as the only six since 1900 with no highs that were warmer than 70° at any point during the final sixteen days of the month. there have been ten such April occurrences in the nineteenth century as well.

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