While records show April was a cooler and wetter than normal month, State Climatologist Harry Hillaker, says things were pretty calm in the first full month of spring. Hillaker says there was only one severe weather event on April 2nd were hail and heavy winds were reported, making it quieter than usual for severe thunderstorms.
Hillaker credits the calm weather to happenstance.He says it was "a little bit of luck" as the conditions never came together to produce severe weather in the state. Hillaker says while farmers didn’t have to worry about hail or storm damage, the wet weather did put them behind in planting. But he says it’s not yet a major concern.
Hillaker says a few days in a row of good weather will allow farmers to get a lot of planting done, so we’re not at the point where farmers should be overly concerned with late planting. The crop report issued Monday showed corn planting was 11 days behind the average.