By Russell Russ

After record warmth this winter and after March’s unprecedented warmth it seemed that we would be well on our way into summer by the time April rolled around. This was not the case. March certainly pushed many plants way ahead of schedule, but April’s weather brought everything a bit more back to normal. The exceptions were below average precipitation and snowfall, and we did have a mini heat wave mid-month, but all in all it was a fairly typical April.

April’s low temperature of 25 degrees was observed on April three and six and the high of 86 degrees was observed on April 16. With an average temperature of 45.4 degrees it was 2.5 degrees above normal. The high temperature of 86 degrees on April 16 did set a new record for that date, just beating the old record of 85 from 2002.    

The total precipitation recorded for the month was 2.78 inches, 1.52 inches below normal. Had it not been for a rainfall of over two inches on April 22 and 23 it would have been record worthy for being dry. April’s snowfall total was just a trace with flurries and sleet falling on just two days. April typically gets about six inches of snow. Thanks to a late March snowfall we began the month with an inch of snow on the ground, but after April 1 the snow was gone for the season.

The snowfall total for this winter season, October through April, is 55.7 inches, which is 34.7 inches below normal for this time period. It is still hard to believe that 23.8 inches of this snow fell in October. For the 2012 calendar year our snowfall total of 28.6 inches is 37 inches below normal and our total precipitation amount of 9.71 inches is 6.79 inches below normal. This lack of rain and the lack of a snowpack from this winter may prove troublesome as we head into the summer months.

Weather observations are recorded by the Great Mountain Forest Corporation at Norfolk’s National Weather Service Cooperative Weather Observer Station, Norfolk 2 SW.