April 2013 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

I'm Dreaming of a White April

Two Feet of April Snow Breaks April Snowfall Record, Pushes 2012-2013 to 4th Snowiest

The month is over, but the growling continues. A record setting 24.4 inches of snow fell on St. Cloud in April 2013. That was the highest April snowfall total since continuous snowfall records began in 1904. It bested the old record of 15.6 inches from 1928 by nearly 9 inches. This snow would have been heavy for any month, since there have now only been 13 months in St. Cloud records with at least 2 feet of snow. The most recent month was November 1983, when 25.0 inches fell.

April 2013 goes down as the snowiest month of the cold season. That has only happened in two other snow seasons: 1910-1911 and 1960-1961.

The heavy April snow pushed the 2012-2013 seasonal snowfall to 78.5 inches, the fourth highest total in St. Cloud records, and the most since 1964-1965, the whitest snow season in St. Cloud records with 87.9 inches. The average seasonal snowfall is 46.1 inches.

Most of the snow this season has fallen in the past three months. The snowfall total from February 1 through April 30 this season has been 57.8 inches, nearly 40 inches above the average of 18.1 inches. This is the second highest Feb-Apr snowfall since snowfall records began in 1904. The highest total was 68.9 inches, set in 1965.

Seven Daily Snowfall Records Tied or Broken This Snow Season

Specifically in April, there were two large snowstorms with 10.9 inches on April 11-15 and 11.1 inches on April 17-19. Those snowfalls set daily records for April 11 snowfall (8.7 inches) and April 18 snowfall (9.4 inches). There was one more daily record snowfall on April 24, when a trace of snow was recorded. There has never been any measurable snowfall on April 24. For the snow season, there have been 7 daily records broken or tied: December 9 (most daily snowfall of season: 11.0 inches and a record for the month of December), three in February, one on March 5, and now the three in April.

There were a total of 8 days with measurable snowfall in April, tying the April record with 1961. There were 5 April days with at least an inch of snowfall, setting a new record. The old record was 4 days in April 1909, 1928, and 1983. The three days with at least 2 inches of snow in April tied the record with the Aprils of 1909, 1928, and 1991.

Snow Helps Cool St. Cloud to Second Coldest April

Snow is not only annoying to look at when you want it to be spring. It's also a cooling factor since 1) a lot of the sun's energy gets reflected back to space and 2) solar energy is used up melting the snow. So, much snowier than average conditions go hand-in-hand with colder than average weather. That was certainly the case in April 2013. The St. Cloud average temperature was 36.2°F, 8.3°F colder than average and the second coldest April since St. Cloud temperature records by 0.1°F over 1975. The only April colder than this past month was in 1950 when the average temperature was 33.8°F. The average temperature was actually colder than the record value through April 25, but the melting of the last snow corresponded with some warmer air finally delivering the first 50-degree high, 60-degree high, and 70-degree high last week. The April 26 date of the first 50-degree high broke the record for the latest 50-degree high. The old record was April 20, 1951. The April 26 day of the first 60-degree high tied the record for the latest date with April 26, 1947 and April 26, 1965. The first 70-degree high the next day was within 10 days of the 100-year average date.

140 Days With An Inch of Snow on the Ground

The cold weather and the late snow led to a prolonged snow cover. St. Cloud first saw bare ground on April 8, bringing to an end 120 consecutive days (since December 8) with at least an inch of snow on the ground. While the latter statistic didn't break any records, that April 7 tied with 2002 as the 4th latest date of continuous snow cover. There were 13 additional days with at least an inch of snow cover (April 11-23) and 7 days in November, so there have been a total of 140 days with at least an inch of snow on the ground. This has tied 1964-1965 for the 4th most days with snow cover. The record is 147 days, set in 2000-2001.

Melting Snow Causing Flooding Potential

That persistent and late season snow cover has only melted in the past two weeks, leading to a large amount of snowmelt headed into area rivers. Fortunately, there had been some thawing underneath the snow pack, so some of the snowmelt has seeped into the ground. Still, the southern protion of the Red River is cresting this week at major flood stage in the Fargo-Moorhead area. Major flooding is expected to continue in the next week further downstream near Grand Forks and Pembina. Northeastern Minnesota, where April became Duluth's snowiest month of all time and where over 129 inches of snow has fallen during the snow season, has rapidly melting snow, which is expected to produce overland flooding in the next week.

The cold and snowy pattern in February through April has caught other places in its web. Denver is going through similarly high snowfalls during the past three months. Denver has picked up 58 inches of snow since February, and just to the northwest, Boulder has 88 inches, nearly 48 of which fell in April. As National Weather Service Meteorologist Mike Baker's report explains, a persistent northwest steering winds from Alaska and the Yukon into the western US has kept enough cold air on hand for snowfall. At the same time, an active southern subtropical branch of the jet stream has supplied enough storm systems and moist air to supply these snowfalls.

And, as we speak, yet another system is affecting Colorado and could produce a rare May snowfall in south central and east central Minnesota. More precipitation could also spread flooding problems into Iowa, Wisconsin, and southeastern Minnesota.

Precipitation-wise, not all that fell in St. Cloud in April was in the form of snow. There was some rain and a little mix of mixed precipitation. The total liquid equivalent for April was 2.90 inches, 0.33 inch above average. There were 14 days with measurable liquid precipitation in April, just two days short of the April record of 16 days, set in 1978 and the most April days with measurable precipitation since April 1989.

The total precipitation has had a huge effect on our most lingering weather-related problem, the lack of rain from summer through the fall. Where the snow melted early in southern Minnesota, the frost went out early and a lot of the rainfall and subsequent snow did seep into the ground. This has allowed all of Minnesota to drop out of the most extreme drought classification on the US Drought Monitor. Throughout the country, the past month has produced more than 5 inches of rain across a large part of the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee River Valleys. While this hasn't solved all of the ground water problems over the Plains, most places have seen some easing of the drought conditions with major relief across parts of Iowa, Colorado, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas. We still need a wet spring to replenish the ground water (50% of Minnesota subsoil moisture is rated as being short or very short) and the cool spring start has delayed planting. On the other hand, the persistent precipitation has caused major flooding in Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa.

Make Up Your Mind

The past three snow seasons have been among the most extreme St. Cloud has witnessed. In 2010-2011, St. Cloud had 66.1 inches of snow, the 9th snowiest on record. There was snow on the ground for 130 consecutive days (8th longest), and the snow didn't melt until April 2, the 11th latest day on record. The 2011-2012 snow season was characterized by only 27.4 inches of snow, 32 consecutive days of snow cover, record early first 50-degree high (January 5), only 10 days with a low of at least zero, and record early ice out. That cold season was part of the warmest year (July 2011-June 2012) in St. Cloud records. This winter has pivoted back to the conditions of the 2010-2011 season. Still, this will go down as only the 7th cold season in St. Cloud records without a -20 low. The past two winters are the only time this has happened back to back.

Ice Out?

The cold temperatures will likely produce one of the latest ice out dates on many northern and central Minnesota lakes. You can see average and latest days of ice out in Minnesota lakes and follow the progress this year from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. This comes on the heels of last year, which set many records for the earliest ice out, most before the end of March.

April 2013 Statistics