Weather

April 2005 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

This Month's Daily Statistics

Saint Cloud Weather Summary for April 2005

Cold Late April Only Tempers Warmth

 For those of you fed up with the past week and a half, you have a short memory. There's no question that the weather was chilly during April 22-30, but that merely dragged the average April Saint Cloud temperature down to 48.8°F (avg. high 60.9°F; avg. low 36.7°F). This still ended up being 5.2°F warmer than normal. The cool weather knocked April 2005 out of the ten warmest Aprils, but it still ranks as tied with 1901 as the 13th warmest April on record and the warmest since 1985. Before the cold spell, the first three weeks of April had averaged 52.3°F (avg. high 65.6°F; avg. low 39.0°F). This warm temperature would have ranked as the second warmest April in Saint Cloud history, falling short of only 1915.

The cold period of April 22-30 wasn't really that incredibly cold for late April. The average temperature during those nine days was 40.7°F. The late April weather was more typical of April 5 and averaged nearly 3 degrees colder than normal. It also featured some snowflakes and sleet pellets in the air. Because some plants had begun to bud and flower in the early April warmth, the cool weather did have a negative effect on some plant life. Still, we are far from the average date of the last Saint Cloud frost, which is May 12.

The cool late April of 2005 was a marked contrast to even last April. On April 28, 2004 Saint Cloud hit 92°F. This heat broke a record high for the day by 6°F and was only the third April day with a high of at least 90°F since Saint Cloud daily temperature records began in 1897.

However, Saint Cloud did not experience the worst of the cold by any stretch of the imagination. A major snowstorm on April 23-25 dumped a foot of snow in Detroit, Flint, and eastern Michigan with 1-2 feet of snow in the Cleveland area. And, on the first night in May, Amarillo, Texas, had more than 3 inches of snow. Meanwhile, Saint Cloud only recorded a trace of snow in April. This marks only the third time since 1987 that there wasn't measurable April snowfall in Saint Cloud.

By the way, we nearly picked up measurable snowfall (or more accurately, hail accumulation) on Sunday. During the most intense hail Sunday afternoon, some of the hail covered parts of the ground since it didn't melt on contact. However, we never achieved a full dusting.

Without measurable snowfall, the 2004-2005 Saint Cloud Airport snowfall remained 27.1 inches, 16 inches below normal for the year. (Monthly Snowfall since 2000 and Average Monthly and Seasonal Snowfall) This probably means that the 2004-2005 cold season has the least snow since lowest since 1986-1987 (16.7 inches, 5th lowest snowfall on record; Top 10 Whitest/Brownest snowfall seasons). 2004-2005 also ranks 22nd lowest seasonal snowfall on record. However, as noted last month, how far Saint Cloud below normal may have depended on observation technique since Saint Cloud State University has received 37.7 inches of snowfall this winter.

In contrast to the snow, the measurable precipitation returned to near normal levels in April. The total precipitation of 2.11 inches was only 0.02 inch from normal. Periods of thunderstorms and heavy rain produced at least 0.40 inches on three days (April 5, 11, 12).

 

April 2005 Statistics

Temperatures (°F)
April 2005
Normal
Average High Temperature (°F)
60.9
54.9
Average Low Temperature (°F)
36.7
32.2
Mean Temperature for April (°F)
48.8
43.6
April Extremes
Temperature(°F)
Date
Warmest High Temperature for April 2005 (°F)
81
April 18th
Coldest High Temperature for April 2005 (°F)
43
April 27th
Warmest Low Temperature for April 2005 (°F)
58* (broke daily record; see below)
April 18th
Coldest Low Temperature for April 2005 (°F)

24

April 2nd
Record Temperatures in April 2005
Temperature(°F)
Date
Old Record
Daily Record Warm Low
58
April 18
56 in 1915
Daily Record Warm Mean Temperature
70
April 18
69 in 1915
Temperature Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
April 2005 Days with High Temperatures =>90°F
0
0.04
April 2005 Days with High Temperatures <= 32°F
0
April 2005 Days with Low Temperatures <= 32°F
14
15.7

Cold-season 2004-2005 Days with Low Temperatures <= 32°F

169
170.4
Liquid Equivalent Precipitation (in)
April 2005
Normal
April 2005 Melted Precipitation (in)
2.11
2.13
April Extremes
Precipitation (in)
Date
Most Daily Precipitation in April 2005
0.69
April 11th
Precipitation Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
April 2005 Days with Measurable (>= 0.01 inch) Precipitation
11
8.4
April 2005 Days with >= 0.10 inch Precipitation
4
4.9
April 2005 Days with >= 0.25 inch Precipitation
3
3.1
April 2005 Days with >= 0.50 inch Precipitation
2
1.5
April 2005 Days with >= 1.00 inch Precipitation
0
0.2
Snowfall (in)
April 2005
Normal
April 2005 Snowfall (in)
Trace
2.6
27.1
46.8
Seasonal SCSU Snowfall (in) for Cold Season 2004-2005
37.7
46.8
April Extremes
Snowfall (in)
Date
Most Daily Snowfall (in) in April 2005
Trace
April 27th

 

Historic temperature data provided courtesy of the Saint Cloud National Weather Service Office, and NOAA/NWS
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Send comments to: raweisman@stcloudstate.edu