Weather

April 2016 Saint Cloud Weather Summary



Average Temperatures, Which Seem Cold

April 2016 Saint Cloud, MN, Weather Summary

For the first month since last August, St. Cloud was not incredibly warm this April. The average temperature at the St. Cloud Regional Airport was 44.8°F, only 0.2°F above average. The month got off to a chilly start with three days of measurable snowfall, including 1.1 inch on April 8. Temperatures were below average on 10 of the first 12 days, including a record cold low of 13 degrees, set on April 9. This was caused by persistent flow from the northwest, draining some of the cold air trapped for most of the winter in Canada. However, a small adjustment which kept the bulk of the cold air in Ontario on its way to Labrador and the northeast US allowed temperatures to warm substantially in the middle of the month. Highs between April 14 and 18 were at least 72 degrees, and included an 80-degree high on April 14. This was about on time for St. Cloud's first 70-degree high, but about a month early for the first 80 of the year.

Second Warmest Oct-April in St. Cloud Records

Despite the relatively average April, St. Cloud added more warm statistics to one of mildest winters on record. For the period of October through April, St. Cloud had an average temperature of 33.2°F, about three degrees warmer than average and the second warmest Oct-Apr average temperature behind only 2011-2012 (35.3°F). Seven of the 10 warmest cold seasons have happened since 1986-1987. So far, St. Cloud has had only 140 days with a temperature of freezing or colder. Barring a severe May freeze-up, this will set a new record for the fewest frost days. The old record is 151 days, set in 2011-2012. There have been only 64 days with a high of freezing or colder. This would rank as the 9th fewest days with cold highs. The record is 49 days, set in 2011-2012.

In the past 5 winters, there have been two years ranking in the top 5 in snowfall (2012-2013 and 2013-2014) and two of the warmest winters on record (2011-2012 and 2015-2016).

 

St. Cloud Winter Spring Statistics 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 2015-2016
Average October-April Temperature 35.3 25.9 21.9 33.2
Lows of freezing or colder (days) 151 191 173 140
Lows of zero or colder (days) 10 43 63 39
Highs of freezing or colder (days) 49 87 103 64
Highs of zero or colder (days) 0 2 15 2
Lows of -20 or colder (days) 0 0 14 0
Snowfall (inches) 27.4 78.5 75.5 30.3
Days with at least one inch of snow on the ground 63 141 131 69
Consecutive days with at least 1 inch on ground 33 121 127 55
Days with at least an inch of snowfall 10 17 21 11
First 50-degree high Jan 5 Apr 26 Mar 30 Mar 9
First 60-degree high Mar 11 Apr 26 Apr 6 Mar 10
First 70-degree high Mar 14 Apr 27 Apr 9 March 15
First 80-degree high Apr 13 May 14 May 24 Apr 14

The relative dry to the start of the year was again eased a bit by late month rain. A total of 1.74 inch fell in April, still 0.83 inch behind the average. However, the 1.12 inch that fell from April 23-25 accounted for the bulk of the precipitation and finally allowed greening of much of the vegetation once the sun broke out again at the end of the month. The total precipitation so far in 2016 has been 4.18 inches, about an inch and a half short of normal. This continues to lead to days with high fire danger in parts of the state. It also led to extremely high pollen levels for much of April.

May looks to continue the warm trend with some very mild weather beginning the month.


April 2016 Statistics

Snowfall (in)
Date
Old Record
Temperatures (°F)
April 2016
Normal
Average High Temperature (°F)
54.6
54.9
Average Low Temperature (°F)
34.9
32.2
Mean Temperature for April (°F)
44.8
44.5
April Extremes
Temperature(°F)
Date
Warmest High Temperature for April 2016 (°F)
80
April 14
Coldest High Temperature for April 2016 (°F)
33
April 8
Warmest Low Temperature for April 2016 (°F)
57
April 16
Coldest Low Temperature for April 2016 (°F)

13 (broke record, see below)

April 9
Record Temperatures in April 2016
Temperature(°F)
Date
Old Record
Daily Record Cold Low
13°F
April 9
14°F in 1960
Temperature Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
April 2016 Days with High Temperatures =>90°F
0
0.04
April 2016 Days with High Temperatures <= 32°F
0
0.73

Cold-season 2015-2016 Days with High Temperatures <= 32°F

64
87.7
April 2016 Days with Low Temperatures <= 32°F
13
15.7

Cold-season 2015-2016 Days with Low Temperatures <= 32°F

140
170.4
 
Liquid Equivalent Precipitation (in)
April 2016
Normal
April 2015 Rainfall (in)
1.74
2.57
April Extremes
Precipitation (in)
Date
Most Daily Precipitation in April 2015
0.85
April 24
Record Precipitation in April 2015
Rainfall (in)
Date
Old Record

No records set

Precipitation Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
April 2016 Days with Measurable (>= 0.01 inch) Precipitation
14
8.4
April 2016 Days with >= 0.10 inch Precipitation
3
4.9
April 2016 Days with >= 0.25 inch Precipitation
2
3.1
April 2016 Days with >= 0.50 inch Precipitation
1
1.5
April 2016 Days with >= 1.00 inch Precipitation
0
0.2
Complete list of Saint Cloud April Records
Link to 10 Wettest/Driest Aprils
   
Snowfall (in)
April 2016
Normal
April 2015 Snowfall (in)
1.6
2.9
30.3
42.9
Record Snowfall in April 2016
No records set
Snowfall Thresholds
Number of Days
Average
April 2016 Days with Measurable (>= 0.1 inch) Snowfall
3
1.9
2015-2016 Cold Season Total Days with Measurable (>= 0.1 inch) Snowfall
33
31.8

April 2016 Days with >= 1.0 inch Snowfall

1
0.9
2015-2016 Cold Season Total Days with >= 1.0 inch Snowfall
11
14.0
April 2016 Days with >= 2.0 inch Snowfall
0
0.6
2015-2016 Cold Season Total Days with >= 2.0 inch Snowfall
4
7.6
April 2016 Days with >= 5.0 inch Snowfall
0
0.1
2015-2016 Cold Season Total Days with >= 5.0 inch Snowfall
1
1.4

 

St. Cloud Average Oct-Apr Temperature

(average = 30.8°F)
Rank Season Avg. Temp.(°F)
1 2011-2012
35.3
2 2015-2016
33.2
3 1986-1987
32.1
4 2005-2006
31.7
5 1997-1998
31.6
6 1941-1942
31.3
7 1998-1999
30.7
8 2004-2005
30.5
9 1980-1981
30.1
10 2009-2010
29.8

 

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