Great Weather Diversity

Warmer Temperatures are Expected  (Source: NOAA)

Residents of the Mid-Atlantic Region have not only had June-like warmth this month, but they have also observed severe weather, record cold and snow.  Although none of the snow accumulated at any of the three area airports – National, Dulles or BWI – some of the suburbs did see measureable snow.

Such was the case this past Saturday, April 9, when parts of southern Maryland – such as Prince Frederick – had 0.3 inches of snow.  That was just two days after thunderstorms brought severe wind gusts to parts of the DC Metro Region.  Pea-sized hail was also reported in Broomes Island in Calvert County, Maryland.  Although April is typically one of the more active severe weather months, nationally, the eastern United States hasn’t had favorable conditions for widespread severe weather so far this month.

Hail collected in Calvert County, MD (April 7, 2016 - Source: Kristen Leitch)

To illustrate how unusual the lack of widespread severe weather has been so far this month are two significant April severe weather outbreaks that have occurred in the last decade.  On April 10, 2009 there were nearly 500 reported cases of severe weather that occurred across the Tennessee Valley and southeastern United States.  Another severe weather outbreak brought more than 1,200 cases of severe weather (including 323 tornadoes) from Kansas to Pennsylvania on April 14 – 16, 2011.  That outbreak claimed 37 lives and illustrated the need for accurate forecasts to be delivered in a timely fashion to help ensure public safety.

Meanwhile, the major weather story so far this April has been cooler than average temperatures coupled with very windy conditions in the Mid-Atlantic Region.  The Nation’s Capital has had wind gusts greater than thirty miles an hour on nine of the first ten days of the month.  In fact, during four of the first ten days of April, wind gusts were greater than thirty nine miles an hour (the minimum threshold for sustained winds in a tropical storm).  It’s important to distinguish between sustained winds in a tropical storm and wind gusts that occur during a thunderstorm.

Washington, D.C.’s average high on April 1 is 62 degrees – the coolest average high for the entire month.  Although six of the first ten days of the month have been cooler than average, today’s high temperatures are closer to average in the mid to upper 60s.  There is more good news for people who are anxious for warmer temperatures.  NOAA indicates a 40% to 50% chance that temperatures will be warmer than average for the week starting April 16.  So to paraphrase Charles Dickens, the weather in the Nation’s Capital so far this month has been “the best of times and the worst of times.”