MONTHLY SUMMARY: APRIL 1997 UPDATED: 5/21/97 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Internet address has been modified by the server, if but slightly. It's now: http://www.pilot.infi.net/~bsmoot/acon.htm Note the insert of "pilot"; also, those who visit the old address will be redirected to the new URL until December 31st, 1997. After that, visitors will have to insert the "pilot" correctly into the address. Joyce Winfree's (NEW Newmarket) e-mail address is added below. Great news!!! Davis Instruments now has a Windows version for displaying Weather Monitor information. It's WeatherLink 4. Am ordering soon and will include it's displays in my home page weather site (PWRS: http://www.pilot.infi.net/~bsmoot) Does anybody know where to find the monthly summary for Roanoke Airport (ROA) on the Internet? That product has been dropped from my monthly summary server, WeatherBrief. Don't think they adjusted when the NWS moved to Blacksburg (RNK). Help!!!! Bob Keehn sends the AP post of the Grandfather Mountain wind record I mentioned in the last monthly report: AP, BLOWING ROCK, NC - Last month was the coldest April in history at Grandfather Mountain with temperatures averaging less than 47 degrees. The average daily high of 46.6 degrees, recorded at the U.S. Weather Service reporting station next to the Mile High Swinging Bridge, was 6.1 degrees below normal for the month. It broke the record of 47.5 degrees set in 1961. The average daily low temperature of 32.5 degrees was 3.2 degrees below normal for April. The low temperature of 17 degrees on April 18 set a new record for that date, breaking the previous record of 18 degrees set in 1983. Winds gusted to 195 mph on the mountain on April 18, breaking the mountain's previous wind speed record of 175 mph set on February 24, 1995. Bob also writes: My plans for April took a sudden change two days prior to our scheduled trip to France when I developed esophageal spasms. Diagnosis- esophageal ulcers which are under treatment. This is one of the occupational hazards of rheumatoid arthritis. (Editor's note: I too have had a similar condition, esophageal reflux, where one feels like he's having a heart attack. Mine was the effect of surgery and overeating!) Bill ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES FROM "AROUND THE LEAGUE"- Arlington - From NWS WBC Sterling: After the 3rd warmest February ever in the DC area and a normal March, April continued a downward dip, some 2.6 degrees cooler than average. Precip was just below the average. This was the coldest April in 14 years and the 3rd coldest in the past 30 years! Apple and peach trees were particularly affected by the late freeze of April 10th. Bridgewater - Notes from Clayton: " April was a cold and windy month. I don't believe I have ever known a spring with so much wind as this spring. During the warm weather in March, a lot of people around here planted gardens. There were a number of mornings in April with frost and freezing temperatures, and plants had to be covered to protect them from the cold. April 15 was my cutoff day for snow. I have never know a measurable snow here in the Shenandoah Valley after this date. The last snow for this past winter occurred on Feb. 14. This was the earliest last snow since 1977. The total snowfall for the winter was 24.1 inches which was about normal. Most of it fell during the first half of the season." Centreville - "No snow is good snow!" says Paul. Barometric max and min occurred withing about three days of each other. Over 1/2 of the April showers happened during the last week of the month. Falls Church - Lowell notes that April '97 was cool, dry, and very windy. The average temp was 2.18 degrees BELOW normal and was the coolest April since 1982. The month was the first to not reach or equal 80 degrees (high temp) since 1988! The average ground temperature at the one foot level was 44.37 degrees (-4.11) which set a new record low for April!! Falls Church - From Erica comes this report: We were 3.2 degrees BELOW our average high temp and 1.3 degrees ABOVE the average low temp. Record frost was reported on April 10 with a 26 degree temp. Fredericksburg - From Ken McKneely comes this report: "after the 1st 3 months of 1997 being warmer than normal, April was below normal. The April mean temp was less that 5 degrees higher than in March." Hampton - Dave reports the month was a little cooler than normal. There were 2 significant events: the first was the trace of snow on the 1st with max wind gust of 46 mph; the second was minor to moderate tidal flooding on the 2nd. Herndon - Robert sent along a temperature trace showing some interesting temp drops during April '97. See enclosed photocopy. Mechanicsville - A light brief snow flurry was noted by Glenn around 9:45 PM on the 1st. New Market - A windy month according to Joyce Winfree (whose e-mail address is added below) Norfolk - From NWS AKQ... the mean temp was -2.58 while the precip was -0.05 Portsmouth - The warmth of winter was tempered by a relatively cold April with the mean temp 3.2 degrees BELOW the norm of 58.8 degrees! Precip was 89% of the norm while the year-to-date precip continued below normal at 78%. Snow is unusual in April here, but we did receive a trace as wrap-around from the Great Snowstorm of 3/31-4/1! We also experienced gusty north and northwest winds during that storm on the 1st with a 53 mph gust. Richmond - From NWS AKQ... Richmond was 3.7 degrees BELOW normal temp while precip was 0.98" above normal Roanoke - April was 3.1 degrees colder than average, according to Wendell. Precip was 1.85" below the norm. Washington (VA) - April was the coolest and driest April recorded at this location (7 Years). Monthly average temperature was 4 degrees below average. Temperature of 21 on 10th was the coldest ever recorded in month of April. (report from Dave Yowell) Woodstock - Lauck reports that April '97 was the coldest April in 12 years of records. It was the second driest. Asheville - This was the first year ever in Asheville in which April was no warmer than March. (from NWS GSP) Brevard - April was a wet, cold month. Rainfall, 7.22 inches set a new record for data going back to 1990. The previous record for April, 6.23 inches, was set in 1991. The average for April, 1990 - 1996, 3.94 inches, is only 55 percent of the 1997 total. April 1997 is the second April since 1990 with no cooling degree days recorded. A total of 751 heating degree days were recorded, the previous high being 589 DD in 1993. The mean high temperature, 66.5 deg. F, is the lowest I have observed for April while the mean low is the second lowest in my records for the month. Charlotte - According to NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, "April was actually cooler than March! The last time this happened in the Charlotte area was in 1907." Greensboro - According to NWS RDU, Greensboro saw average temps some 4.4 degrees below normal while precip was way above the norm (+4.38"). Henderson - George Stevenson imparts: "Don't let this cool start fool you! Summer heat will win this year." Raleigh - Very cool and wet summarizes April '97 according to Bob. The 24 degrees on April 10th damaged quite a few budding plants. The average temp for the month was less than 1 degree warmer than the temp average for March 1997. Raleigh - A daily record low max temp was set on the 2nd with a temp of 50 degrees. (source: NWS RDU) Roxboro - From Merriell Jay comes this report: April was at times more like MArch - cool, windy, and wet during the 2nd half. Overall April was cooler and wetter than normal. Most of the precip occurred the last 9 to 10 days of the month. Columbia - A cool month here with the mean temp -2.8 degrees. While it was cooler, the month was a bit wetter, some 0.79 inches above the norm. Yearly rainfall is some 2.27" below normal. Greenville-Spartanburg - NWS GSP reports that the mean temp was -3.3 degrees while the total precip was 0.25" above normal. The last time April was cooler than March was in 1907. Ruby - In Franklin's region, the month was very dry in the beginning but became wet in the latter days. Temps were about average. Wilmington - April was cooler than normal (-2.5 degrees). No temp records were tied or broken during the month. Meanwhile, abundant sunshine prevailed, with 73% of the possible! (notes from NWS ILM) Tri-cities - The Bristol Tennessee area saw temps 4.5 degrees below normal, while the precip total was 0.47" above norm! (source NWS TRI) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATED MEMBERS' E-MAIL ADDRESSES: (posted by permission) BRE Bob Keehn Bob_Keehn@juno.com BRI Clayton Towers Ctowers@rica.net POR Bill Trotter wtrotter@whro.org 71470.1535@compuserve.com RAL Bob Woodson woods@pipeline.com CEN Paul Bassett III pbassett@nmaa.org WSH David Yowell deyowell@mnsinc.com FCH Erica Page erica@erols.com RMD Roy Britt rbritt@erols.com NEW Joyce Winfree joywood@shentel.net -----------------------------------------------------------------------------