April weather extremes set numerous records in U.S.

May 10, 2011 – MEMPHIS, TN – Historic flooding, a record-breaking tornado outbreak and devastating wildfire activity made April 2011 a month of historic climate extremes across much of the United States, according to scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, N.C. The average U.S. temperature in April was 52.9 degrees F, which is 0.9 degrees F above the long-term (1901-2000) average. April precipitation was 0.7 inches above the long-term average, the 10th wettest April on record. This monthly analysis, based on records dating back to 1895, is part of the suite of climate services NOAA provides. Fueled by record-setting precipitation totals, historic and near-historic flooding occurred throughout the Midwest and Ohio Valley, from the smallest streams to the largest rivers. The Ohio Valley region had its wettest April on record and it was the second wettest for the Northeast. Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania each had their wettest April since 1895. An average of 11.88 inches of precipitation fell across Kentucky, nearly three times its long-term average, breaking the previous record (7.61 inches in 1972) by more than four inches. In Texas, drought intensified making it the fifth driest April on record. The U.S. Drought Monitor classified 94 percent of the state as “Severe” (the D2 category) to “Exceptional” (D4, the most intense designation) drought. The Northeast and Ohio Valley regions had its wettest February-April period on record. Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania set precipitation records. Other states with much-above-average precipitation for the period were: West Virginia (second wettest), Illinois and Vermont (third), Michigan (fifth), Missouri (sixth), and Washington (ninth). –NOAA