April was slightly warmer-than-normal with an average temperature of 49.7 degrees. That's less than a half-degree above normal (49.3 degrees). The month started much cooler-than-normal with five of the first seven days featuring below normal temperatures. Twelve of the 30 days (20%) were colder-than-normal, four days featured normal average temperatures, and 14 days were warmer-than-normal.
The following graphic shows the April climate summary for the six regional weather stations. Notice the rainfall amounts for LaGuardia Airport (1.15") and Islip, New York (1.53") were the second driest on record for those two locations. All five stations reported a monthly normal average temperature at or close to normal. Kennedy Airport's average of 51.3 degrees was 0.6 degrees below normal, while Islip's average temperature of 49.1 degrees was 0.6 degrees above normal.
Climatologically, April is the second wettest month of the year across southwestern Connecticut, trailing March (4.15") in average monthly rainfall based on the last 40 years. In addition, April's recent history includes two memorable and record-breaking rainstorms. The wettest single-day precipitation total of 5.33" of rain at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford occurred Sunday, April 23, 2006. One year later, over three inches (3.02") of rain fell Sunday, April 15, 2007.
The dry spell will continue through the upcoming weekend and the start of next week. Only one-hundredth of an inch of rain has been measured at the airport over the last 12 days. If dry conditions continue for much longer, the region will be classified as being in a "drought." The next chance of any rain will happen by the middle of next week, and that doesn't seem too impressive at this point.
Paul
