Weather

April 2017 Saint Cloud Weather Summary



Rains Come in April to Top Off Third Mildest Cold Season

After a quite dry start to 2017 (1.99 inch of precipitation in the first 3 months), St. Cloud caught up on rainfall in April. A total of 3.27 inches fell during the month, including 6 days exceeding a quarter inch of precipitation. By the end of April, the 2017 rainfall had climbed to 5.26 inches, just 0.10 inch below average. And the St. Cloud Airport had one of the smaller rainfall amounts in the area as places in the eastern half of Minnesota picked up 3-6 inches of rain during April. Only northwestern Minnesota got mainly shut out of the rain.

While April 2017 was not nearly as unusual as the winter months, it did mark the ninth consecutive month with an average temperature at least a degree above normal. The April average was 46.0 degrees (average high: 56.5 degrees, average low: 35.4 degrees), 1.5 degrees above average. This included St. Cloud's first 70-degree high of the season on April 8. On the other hand, the only record temperature set in April was the 34 degree record cold high on April 27.

The April statistics pushed the Oct-April average temperature in St. Cloud to 32.5 degrees, the third warmest cold season in St. Cloud records, just behind 2015-2016 (33.2 degrees). The warmest October through April in St. Cloud records was 2011-2012 with an average temperature of 35.3 degrees.

While St. Cloud did end up cooling off late in the month with an inch of snow falling early on May 1, several cold season statistics rank among the warmest in city records. St. Cloud had only 65 days this cold season with a high temperature of freezing or colder, which is tied for the 10th least in St. Cloud records. Low temperatures dropped to freezing or colder on 150 days through mid-May. That would be the second lowest total in St. Cloud records, ranking only behind 2015-2016 (143 days).

That last inch of snow on May 1 ran the cold season snowfall to only 30.9 inches, a full foot below average. While there were 12 days that produced at least an inch of snow in 2016-2017, just short of the 14 day average, the generally mild conditions meant that the snow didn't stick around for long. There were only 65 days with at least an inch of snow cover, more than a month short of the 101 day average. The longest streak of consecutive snow cover days was 46 days, 40 days below the average.

In the past 6 winters, there have been two years ranking in the top 5 in snowfall (2012-2013 and 2013-2014) and three of the warmest winters on record (2011-2012, 2015-2016, and 2016-2017).

 

St. Cloud Winter Spring Statistics 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 2015-2016 2016-2017
Average October-April Temperature 35.3 25.9 21.9 33.2 32.5
Lows of freezing or colder (days) 151 191 173 143 150
Lows of zero or colder (days) 10 43 63 14 24
Highs of freezing or colder (days) 49 87 103 64 65
Highs of zero or colder (days) 0 2 15 2 3
Lows of -20 or colder (days) 0 0 14 0 1
Snowfall (inches) 27.4 78.5 75.5 30.3 31.9
Days with at least one inch of snow on the ground 63 141 131 69 65
Consecutive days with at least 1 inch on ground 33 121 127 55 46
Days with at least an inch of snowfall 10 17 21 11 12
First 50-degree high Jan 5 Apr 26 Mar 30 Mar 9 Feb 17
First 60-degree high Mar 11 Apr 26 Apr 6 Mar 10 Mar 5
First 70-degree high Mar 14 Apr 27 Apr 9 March 15 Apr 8
First 80-degree high Apr 13 May 14 May 24 Apr 14 May 5

 



April 2017 Statistics

Snowfall (in)
Date
Old Record
Temperatures (°F)
April 2017
Normal
Average High Temperature (°F)
56.5
54.9
Average Low Temperature (°F)
35.4
32.2
Mean Temperature for April (°F)
46.0
44.5
April Extremes
Temperature(°F)
Date
Warmest High Temperature for April 2017 (°F)
73
April 8
Coldest High Temperature for April 2017 (°F)
34
April 27
Warmest Low Temperature for April 2017 (°F)
48
April 9
Coldest Low Temperature for April 2017 (°F)

24

April 7
Record Temperatures in April 2017
Temperature(°F)
Date
Old Record
Daily Record Cold High
34°F
April 27
37°F in 1950
Temperature Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
April 2017 Days with High Temperatures =>90°F
0
0.04
April 2017 Days with High Temperatures <= 32°F
0
0.73

Cold-season 2016-2017 Days with High Temperatures <= 32°F

65 (tied for 10th least)
87.7
April 2017 Days with Low Temperatures <= 32°F
13
15.7

Cold-season 2016-2017 Days with Low Temperatures <= 32°F

150 (through May 17; 2nd fewest)
170.4
 
Liquid Equivalent Precipitation (in)
April 2017
Normal
April 2017 Rainfall (in)
3.27
2.57
April Extremes
Precipitation (in)
Date
Most Daily Precipitation in April 2017
0.89
April 18
Record Precipitation in April 2017
Rainfall (in)
Date
Old Record

No records set

Precipitation Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
April 2017 Days with Measurable (>= 0.01 inch) Precipitation
11
8.4
April 2017 Days with >= 0.10 inch Precipitation
8
4.9
April 2017 Days with >= 0.25 inch Precipitation
6
3.1
April 2017 Days with >= 0.50 inch Precipitation
1
1.5
April 2017 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 2017
Normal
April 2017 Snowfall (in)
Trace
2.9
30.9
42.9
Record Snowfall in April 2017
No records set
Snowfall Thresholds
Number of Days
Average
April 2017 Days with Measurable (>= 0.1 inch) Snowfall
0
1.9
2016-2017 Cold Season Total Days with Measurable (>= 0.1 inch) Snowfall
27
31.8

April 2017 Days with >= 1.0 inch Snowfall

0
0.9
2016-2017 Cold Season Total Days with >= 1.0 inch Snowfall
12
14.0
April 2017 Days with >= 2.0 inch Snowfall
0
0.6
2016-2017 Cold Season Total Days with >= 2.0 inch Snowfall
6
7.6
April 2017 Days with >= 5.0 inch Snowfall
0
0.1
2016-2017 Cold Season Total Days with >= 5.0 inch Snowfall
0
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 2016-2017
32.5
4 1986-1987
32.1
5 2005-2006
31.7
6 1997-1998
31.6
7 1941-1942
31.3
8 1998-1999
30.7
9 2004-2005
30.5
10 1980-1981
30.1

 

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