April was cooler and drier than normal

April’s cool, snowy and wet entrance Monday continued one trend, but showed promise for ending another in the world of Iowa weather. State Climatologist Harry Hillaker says March broke a trend of warmer than normal months.Temperatures averaged four-point-two degrees colder than normal, the first below normal month since last October. Hillaker says Monday’s snow and rain was welcome after a March that started out wet, then ended up dry.We had about one-point-two inches of precipitation in March, about an inch below normal. He says the snow and rain is welcome, as March was the fifth straight drier-than-normal month. Though he says the state isn’t in a bad way yet, as the subsoil moisture is still in good supply despite the drier months. He says April begins the run into the three wettest months of the year. Hillaker says Monday’s snow isn’t unusual for the early weeks of April.