Weather Extremes

For the week of April 12-19, the number of weather records that were broken or tied increased from the previous week. A total of 258 extremes were recorded across the U.S. Included were 73 high temperature records, 104 low temperatures records, 12 precipitation and 26 snowfall records.

Many of the high temperature extremes were once again found in Southern California. The northwestern U.S. also observed a number of maximum temperature extremes as well as low temperature records. There were a number of warm days in South Dakota and along the eastern Great Lakes.

The most impressive high temperature extreme occurred in Anaheim, Calif., on April 13 with a blistering 102 degrees. Many stations in Southern Californai observed record highs ranging from the mid-80s along the coast to the mid-to-upper 90s across the inland areas. To the north, Boise tied a record with 80 degrees on the 13th. Normally mild Montana reported highs in the mid-70s with a 79 degree reading at Missoula. On April 14, Pendleton, Ore., had a record 83 degrees. Northern Nebraska and South Dakota had record highs in the mid-to-upper 80s; an extreme 91 degrees was observed at Pierre, S.D. On the 19th, Buffalo, N.Y., soared to 87 degrees.

There were a number of record lows reported in the West, but many of them were observed in the Southeast. On April 15, Tuscaloosa, Ala., dipped to a record 31 degrees. Normally mild, Tallahassee, Fla., had 37 degrees. Unseasonably cold weather gripped Asheville, N.C., on April 16 with a low of 28 degrees. Also on the 16th, Davenport, Wash., had a record low of 21 degrees. Yakima, Wash., dropped to 22 degrees on the 19th.

Rainfall records were not as widespread as the high and low temperature extremes, but Ottumwa, Iowa, observed 1.56 inches of rain on April 17, and Waterloo, Iowa, had 2.29 on the 18th. Seattle had only .22 inches of rain on the 18th, but it was a new record for the date.

Snowfall records are still popping up. On April 15, Bozeman, Mont., had 5.7 inches. Spokane had 0.4 inches of snow on the 18th. Most of the snowfall extremes were found in Alaska. Nine inches of snow fell in downtown Juneau on April 17.