State Climatologist Harry Hillaker says a look at the numbers shows the month of April came close to record-setting cold. But, Hillaker says overall the month ended up just over one degree cooler than normal.
Hillaker says it was the coolest April in 10 years, and started off 10 degrees colder than normal and on pace to be one of the coldest on record. But, Hillaker says a warm up in the second half of the month that saw temperatures hit the 90’s, sent the average up.
Hillaker says there were more showers than in an average April. Hillaker says the statewide average was about an inch-and-a-quarter more than normal. The wettest area was in the western and west-central area of the state, including Guthrie Center, which averaged over nine inches of rain. He says the far northern part of the state was the only area that wasn’t wetter than normal.
Hillaker says the plentiful rain continues a trend. He says it was the fifth consecutive month of above normal rainfall and the five months, December through April, are the fourth wettest on record. Hillaker says there were a couple of unusual weather events in April.
Hillaker says there was a hard freeze at the start of the month that saw temperatures below freezing for six straight days, and then there was a big snowstorm that saw northwest Iowa get as much as ten inches of snow.
Hillaker says temperatures are averaging just below normal for the year with the extremely cold February and part of April, and an unusually mild March and January. Hillaker says all four months have been wetter than normal making it the sixth wettest year-to-date thus far. The temperature in April averaged 47-point-two degrees with an average rainfall of four-point-six inches.