Weather Highlights April 3 – 9, 2022

Much of the eastern half of the nation received substantial precipitation, with weekly totals ranging from 2 to 4 inches or more in parts of the South and Northeast. Severe thunderstorms accompanied the Southern showers; several dozen tornadoes were spotted on April 4-6 from northeastern Texas to the southern Atlantic Coast. Meanwhile, rain and snow showers were common across the Midwest, although significant snow accumulations were generally confined to the upper Great Lakes region. The cool, showery Midwestern weather limited spring fieldwork, especially in wetter areas across the eastern Corn Belt. Elsewhere, mostly dry weather prevailed from the West Coast to the High Plains, except in the Pacific Northwest. In California and environs, a second heat wave in 3 weeks led to further reductions in high-elevation snowpack and resulted in unusually heavy irrigation demands so early in the year. California’s early-season heat boosted weekly temperatures at least 10°F above normal in a few locations. Near or above normal temperatures were also prevalent across the Plains, Deep South, and Atlantic Coast States. In contrast, readings averaged more than 5°F below normal in some Midwestern locations. Near or below normal temperatures were common across the Northwest, which experienced cooler weather as the week progressed.

Early in the week, Eastern warmth was mostly limited to southern Florida, where Fort Myers posted a daily-record high of 90°F on April 4. The following day, hot weather surged into the south-central U.S. in advance of an approaching cold front. In Texas, daily-record highs for April 5 included 100°F in Del Rio; 97°F in Waco; 96°F in Childress; and 95°F in San Antonio, Wichita Falls, and Dallas-Fort Worth. Elsewhere on the 5th, Lawton, OK, posted a daily record high of 92°F. A monthly record was established on April 6 in McAllen, TX, where the high of 109°F clipped the former mark of 107°F, set on April 26, 1984, and April 27, 2014. With a high of 104°F on the 6th, Brownsville, TX, tied a monthly record originally set on April 26, 2017. Meanwhile, hot weather also persisted in parts of Florida, where record-setting highs for April 6 surged to 93°F in Orlando and 92°F in Vero Beach. Farther west, cooler air arrived in the Northwest, while heat developed across much of California. On April 6, daily-record lows in Oregon dipped to 11°F in Burns and 16°F in Redmond. Olympia, WA (25°F), also posted a recordsetting low for April 6. However, consecutive daily-record highs were established on April 7-8 in California locations such as Long Beach (100 and 101°F, respectively); Los Angeles International Airport (95 and 97°F); and Fresno (94 and 96°F). The only previous April dates Long Beach had experienced readings of 100°F or greater were April 4-6, 1989; April 26, 2004; and April 20, 2009. On April 8, triple-digit, daily-record highs were also observed in southern California locations such as Anaheim (106°F), Santa Ana (103°F), and Escondido (102°F). Record-setting warmth briefly spread to the northern High Plains; in Montana, highs for the 8th soared to 80°F in Helena and 78°F in Lewistown. Conversely, sharply cooler air punching into the South resulted in daily-record lows for April 9 in Arkansas locations such as Russellville (28°F) and Little Rock Air Force Base (28°F).

With a pair of spring storms crossing the North, high winds were observed in several areas. In Montana, April 4 wind gusts were clocked to 69 mph in Cut Bank and 63 mph at Dillon Airport. Ongoing high winds in Montana on April 5 resulted in gusts to 66 mph in Lewistown and 62 mph in Helena. Later, numerous damaging wind gusts related to Southern thunderstorm activity were reported from April 4-7. At Craig Airport in Jacksonville, FL, a thunderstorm-produced gust to 57 mph was reported on April 7. Elsewhere on the 7th in Florida, a gust to 82 mph was recorded in Fort Pierce. Two days earlier, on April 5, a thunderstorm wind gust to 77 mph had been noted in Crestview, FL. April 5 also represented a peak day for tornadic activity, with as many as six dozen twisters spotted—based on preliminary reports—from Mississippi to South Carolina. Southern daily-record rainfall totals included 4.48 inches (on April 5) in Hattiesburg, MS; 4.16 inches (on April 6) in Macon, GA; and 2.90 inches (on April 7) in Jacksonville, FL. A wave of Northeastern daily rainfall records occurred on April 7, when calendar-day totals reached 2.14 inches in Scranton, PA, and 2.03 inches in Albany, NY. Heavy rain lingered in New England through April 8; daily-record totals on that date included 2.11 inches in Portland, ME, and 1.03 inches in Concord, NH. Meanwhile, snow showers developed across the Midwest and pushed into parts of the South and East; daily-record totals reached 0.1 inch (on April 7) in Sisseton, SD, and a trace (on April 8) in Harrison, AR. Duluth, MN, netted 8.0 inches of snow from April 5-7. By April 9, strong winds—not associated with thunderstorms—returned across the Southeast. With a gust to 58 mph on the 9th, Gainesville, FL, set a monthly record, previously attained with a gust to 56 mph on April 30, 2010. On the central and southern Plains, windy weather raised dust and fanned several early April wildfires; in south-central Nebraska, the Road 739 Fire burned some 35,000 acres of vegetation and destroyed nearly five dozen structures, while in western Oklahoma, the Beaver River Fire torched nearly 25,000 acres and a dozen structures.

Wintry temperatures (locally more than 10°F below normal) returned across much of mainland Alaska. Kotzebue reported sub-zero minima each day from April 2-9, including a low of -25°F (not a record for the date) on the 8th. Meanwhile, mild, showery weather covered southeastern Alaska. April 1-9 precipitation totaled 3.60 inches (149 percent of normal) in Yakutat and 3.31 inches (107 percent) in Ketchikan. Farther south, Hawaii’s regime featuring warm, mostly dry weather persisted, especially in leeward locations. On Maui, Kahului notched a daily record-tying high of 87°F on April 5. At the state’s major airport observation sites, month-to-date rainfall through April 9 ranged from a trace in Kahului to 3.50 inches (108 percent of normal) in Hilo, on the Big Island. The bulk of Hilo’s rain fell during the mid- to late-week period, with 2.23 inches noted from April 6-9.

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