Weather highlights April 10-16, 2022

A powerful spring storm delivered significant, late season snow from the Cascades and Sierra Nevada to the northern Plains, stressing livestock in the middle of the calving and lambing season. High winds and blizzard conditions accompanied the snow, especially across the northern Plains, causing substantial travel disruptions. Farther south, drought conditions worsened across the central and southern Plains and the Southwest, amid windy, dry conditions. At times, winds raised dust and contributed to the rapid spread of several wildfires, including the 6,159-acre McBride Fire, which was ignited on April 12 in Ruidoso, NM, and destroyed more than 200 homes. Meanwhile, heavy showers and locally severe thunderstorms swept across the Mississippi Delta and environs, producing widespread rainfall totals of 2 to 4 inches or more and causing localized wind and hail damage. Significant rain fell in other areas, including parts of the Midwest and Northeast, although mostly dry weather prevailed along the middle and southern Atlantic Coast. Warm weather prevailed for much of the week across the South, East, and lower Midwest, boosting temperatures more than 10°F above normal across portions of the southern Plains and scattered locations in the middle and northern Atlantic States. In contrast, a harsh cold snap engulfed the northern Plains and the Northwest, holding weekly temperatures at least 10 to 20°F below normal from the Cascades to the Dakotas. In fact, chilly weather broadly covered much of the remainder of the western U.S., as well as the upper Midwest. 

As the week began, cool weather lingered along the Atlantic Coast. In Florida, Vero Beach (43°F) noted a daily-record low for April 10. Meanwhile, increasingly cold weather spread across the northern Plains and much of the West. By April 12, daily-record lows in California dipped to 7°F in South Lake Tahoe, 31°F in Redding, and 33°F in Sacramento. Sub-zero temperatures settled across the northern Rockies, where Lake Yellowstone, WY, registered a low of -18°F on April 13. From April 13-16, Billings, MT, logged lows of 9, 4, 10, and 15°F, breaking daily records each day by at least 5°F. Billings also recorded its latest-ever reading below 5°F (previously, 0°F on April 5, 1936). Elsewhere in Montana, the temperature in Cut Bank remained continuously below 32°F from April 11-16. By the 16th, single-digit lows were common across snow-covered areas in North Dakota, where temperatures fell to 8°F in Minot and Grand Forks. With a low of 0°F on the 16th, Bismarck, ND, experienced its latest-ever reading of 0°F or below—and its coldest April weather since 1996, when it was -1°F on April 5. Great Falls, MT, closed the week with consecutive daily-record lows (7 and 8°F, respectively) on April 15-16. Mid-week temperatures briefly plunged across the central and southern Plains, threatening the already drought-stressed winter wheat crop. Denver, CO, registered 10°F on April 13, a record for the date, followed the next day by dailyrecord lows of 4°F in Sidney, NE; 9°F in Colby, KS; and 22°F in Dalhart, TX. Unusually cold conditions also gripped the Northwest, where the 15th featured the lowest-ever April temperatures in Washington locations such as Ephrata (19°F; previously 21°F on April 2, 1999, and April 19, 2008) and Wenatchee (23°F; previously, 25°F on April 21, 2008). In stark contrast, heat surged northward in advance of a strong cold front. In Texas, a wave of record highs on April 12 included maxima of 103°F in Laredo and Del Rio. On the same date, daily-record highs climbed above the 90-degree mark in Grand Island, NE (92°F), and Concordia, KS (92°F). McAllen, TX, notched a daily-record high of 107°F on April 13. By the 14th, warmth reached the Atlantic Coast States, where Newark, NJ, attained 88°F—a record for the date. Meanwhile, heat quickly returned across the southern High Plains, where Lubbock, TX, posted a record-setting high (92°F) for April 15.

Early in the week, rare April snow fell at lower Northwestern elevations. The airport in Portland, OR, which had never experienced a measurable April snowfall, received 1.9 inches on April 11-12. The airport’s previous latest snow had fallen on March 25, 1965, when 0.3 inch fell. Downtown Portland, hit with 2.0 inches of wet snow on April 11, also set a record for its latest accumulation (previously, 0.1 inch on April 10, 1903). Meanwhile, high winds raked the Plains and Southwest. On April 10, a gust to 78 mph was clocked in Raton, NM. Two days later Broken Bow, NE, recorded a gust to 62 mph. Meanwhile in North Dakota, April 12-14 snowfall included 12.6 inches in Grand Forks (National Weather Service office) and 18.3 inches in Bismarck. Stormtotal snowfall topped 2 feet in several North Dakota communities, including Velva (28.0 inches), Lansford (27.5 inches), Dunn Center (26.0 inches), and Underwood (24.3 inches). During the storm, a wind gust to 54 mph was clocked in Bismarck; elsewhere in North Dakota, gusts reached 60 mph in Dickinson and 63 mph in Minot and Hettinger. Measurable snow fell in Great Falls, MT, each day from April 11-17, totaling 12.2 inches. Farther west, the first-ever measurable April snow fell at the agricultural experiment station in Wenatchee, WA. Incredibly, the Wenatchee Experiment Station received 10.4 inches of snow on April 14, boosting its month-to-date total to 13.1 inches. A neighboring station, the Wenatchee Water Plant, received a storm total of 5.4 inches, breaking its April 1935 record of 0.5 inch. Elsewhere, a severe weather outbreak affected various parts of the Plains, Midwest, and South from April 11-14. On April 11, hail up to 4.5 inches in diameter fell in Logan County, AR, while a tornado was spotted by the observer at Little Rock Air Force Base. On April 12, an EF-3 tornado injured at least 23 people in Bell County, TX, near Salado. The same day, at least two tornadoes were documented in Minnesota, where an EF-2 twister in Mower County struck the community of Taopi. A thunderstorm wind gust to 75 mph occurred on April 13 at Hawkins Field in Jackson, MS. The midSouth remained the focus of heavy showers for several days; in Arkansas, daily-record totals included 2.81 inches (on April 13) in Stuttgart and 1.72 inches (on April 16) in Hot Springs.

Mild, mostly dry weather in western Alaska contrasted with dry but increasingly cold conditions in eastern and southeastern parts of the state. By April 14, daily-record lows were set in Ketchikan (26°F) and Sitka (29°F). Ketchikan logged another daily-record low (25°F on April 16). Juneau collected consecutive daily-record lows (20 and 21°F, respectively) on April 14-15. Farther north, however, Fairbanks achieved a high of 50°F on April 14. Meanwhile, windward slopes in Hawaii experienced a significant increase in shower activity, especially late in the week, but leeward locations remained mostly dry. On the Big Island, Hilo netted 4.71 inches of rain (not a record for the date) on April 16, boosting its month-to-date sum to 10.68 inches (196 percent of normal). However, April 1-16 rainfall totaled less than one-tenth of an inch in Honolulu, Oahu (0.02 inch, or 4 percent of normal), and Kahului, Maui (0.06 inch, or 8 percent). Kahului also tallied a trio of daily-record highs (88, 88, and 89°F) from April 10-12.

Source: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/wwcb.pdf