John McGinley, Peak to Peak. April 2019: April is typically our snowiest month but not this year. With temperatures well above normal our snow was diminished even though we had a respectable precipitation total of over two inches. Fourteen days had measurable precipitation, but we only had two moderate events one on the 10th and the other during the period 26-30th. Very warm days were the rule as were warm overnight lows. It was also very windy with frequent downslope events. The snow on the ground held on at my location until mid-month then rapidly melted. 

Precipitation:  Snow for the month was 15.9 inches, well below the normal of 30 inches. This melted out to 2.01 inches, well below the normal of 2.78 inches. Upslope brought us about 8 inches of snow on the 10th. The event on the 26-28th started out as rain showers and thunderstorms, transitioning to snow by the 29-30th. 

Temperature: Warm was the story for the month with an average high of 52F and an average low of 30F. This put the mean 3.3 degrees above normal…..a very warm April. Highest high was a whopping 68F on the 20th. Lowest high was 32F on the 11th and 29th. Lowest low was 14F on the 11th. Thirteen days never went below freezing, twice as many as a normal April.

Winds: Winds cranked up with 10 windy (40+mph) days and two days at 60+ mph. Twice as windy as a normal April. 

Other Features: The jetstream was shifted mostly north but we had plenty of weaker disturbances that gave us many days of precipitation. Also the winds aloft were strong enough to give us a greater share of windy days. 

Outlook for May: Climatology shows a big warm up here as average highs push 60F. Average lows are just above freezing. May is pretty wet with 2.35 inches of liquid. Some Mays have had significant snows and others none, so the average is at a moderate 11 inches. The long range predictions are showing rather cool and unsettled conditions throughout the first 3 weeks of the month. General trough conditions will prevail over the west and will unleash some wet, slow-moving systems. All signs are showing cooler and wetter than normal for the month. 

(Originally published in the May 9, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)