State Climatologist Justin Glisan.
Rain in March added to the snowmelt and caused flooding in the state — but state climatologist Justin Glisan says there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary in the overall weather picture.
“Typically we expect about 2.15 inches — and we were right around 2.05 inches — so almost average,” Glisan says. “Snow wise, we were below average also. We had on average 2.1 inches of snow across the state, where we typically expect almost five inches.”
Temperatures on average across the state were also not normal. “We were cooler than average by about five degrees. Normally we expect an average temperature around 36. We were about 31 degrees,” according to Glisan. “Now there are parts of the state that were near normal.” Glisan says it’s likely April will be warmer than last year — and overall precipitation will continue to be above normal.
“Last April was the coldest April on record, so this would be a welcome change from last April at least. Precipitation wise, we are trending a tad bit above average across the state. Typically during April we get about three-and-half inches of rainfall,” Glisan says.
Last April saw some heavy snow in the northern counties with 10 to 15 inches being reported.
(By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)