Weather

April 2020 Saint Cloud Weather Summary


Still A Cool April, But Without the Snow of the Past Two Years

In case you have been waiting for an April to break up the string late season snowfall, April 2020 has come just in time. There was only 1.0 inch of snow at St. Cloud State University, compared to 8.3 inches last April and 14.8 inches in 2018 (see NWS St. Cloud April high-low-precipitation table). This means that the snow season, which accumulated 37.5 inches through the end of January, has produced only 9.9 inches since then. The 44.7 inches of snow so far this season is actually below the 46.1 inch St. Cloud annual average. This was helped by missing the southern Minnesota snowstorm of April 12.

This dry weather began in February, with only 0.16 inch of precipitation. March did produce 2.00 inches (a bit above average), but 1.71 inches of it fell on March 28-29. And, April was pretty dry until our rain storm on Tuesday. Still, there has only been 1.31 inch of rain, more than an inch below average.

We did need that break in the rain, since it allowed the snow pack to dwindle without producing devastating flooding, except in the Red River Valley. And, the water table is still high statewide thanks to last year's record wetness. The plants are now greening and budding as they have been able to tap that water supply. So, the dry weather has been a help.

The cool weather did dominate April with the average temperature of 41.8 degrees, 2.7 degrees colder than average. The coldest of the cold period happened during April 14 and 15. The high on April 14 was only 28 degrees, setting a new record cold high for the day. While the April 14 low dropped into the teens, the only record cold temperature was set the next morning with a low of 13 degrees.

The cold season of 2019-2020 continued to confound anyone looking for trends for recent winters. After two straight winters of above 60 inch snowfalls, including heavy snow at the end of the season, St. Cloud had a top-heavy winter with a snowy start and a dry finish. The temperature never dropped below -20 and only 2 highs of zero or colder were recorded. There were only 28 days with a low of zero or colder, slightly more than half the usual number. And, despite the cool start to spring, most of the "first warm spring" temperature thresholds were on time or early, except for the first 80 degree high. And, that was still much earlier than during the 2018-2019 season.

 

St. Cloud Winter Spring Statistics 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020
Average October-April Temperature 35.3 (warmest) 25.9 21.9 (5th coldest) 33.2 (2nd warmest) 32.5 (3rd warmest) 25.3 28.2 27.8
Lows of freezing or colder (days) 151 (3rd fewest) 191(10th most) 173 143 (fewest) 150 (2nd fewest) 186 183 182
Lows of zero or colder (days) 10 (fewest on record) 43 63 (8th most) 14 (3rd fewest) 24 42 49 28
Highs of freezing or colder (days) 49 87 103 64 65 89 106 83
Highs of zero or colder (days) 0 2 15 2 3 5 5 2
Lows of -20 or colder (days) 0 0 14 0 1 2 7 0
Snowfall (inches) 27.4 78.5(4th snowiest) 75.5 (5th snowiest) 30.3 31.9 62.7 69.1 (8th snowiest) 47.4
Days with at least one inch of snow on the ground 63 141 131 69 65 127 119 104
Consecutive days with at least 1 inch on ground 33 121 127 55 46 75 90 102
Days with at least an inch of snowfall 10 17 21 11 12 22 22 14
First 50-degree high Jan 5 (earliest) Apr 26 (latest) Mar 30 Mar 9 Feb 17 Apr 19 Mar 27 Mar 8
First 60-degree high Mar 11 Apr 26 (latest) Apr 6 Mar 10 Mar 5 (2nd earliest) Apr 22 Mar 27 Apr 2
First 70-degree high Mar 14 Apr 27 Apr 9 March 15 Apr 8 Apr 30 Apr 20 Apr 7
First 80-degree high Apr 13 May 14 May 24 Apr 14 May 5 Apr 30 May 30 May 25

 

April 2020 Statistics

Snowfall (in)
Date
Old Record
Temperatures (°F)
April 2020
Normal
Average High Temperature (°F)
53.4
54.9
Average Low Temperature (°F)
30.1
32.2
Mean Temperature for April (°F)
41.8
44.5
April Extremes
Temperature(°F)
Date
Warmest High Temperature for April 2020 (°F)
73
April 27
Coldest High Temperature for April 2020 (°F)
28 (broke record; see below)
April 14
Warmest Low Temperature for April 2020 (°F)
48
April 27
Coldest Low Temperature for April 2020 (°F)

13 (broke record; see below)

April 15
Record Temperatures in April 2020
Temperature(°F)
Date
Old Record
Daily Record Cold High Temperatures
28 April 14 31 set in 2018
Daily Record Cold Average Temperatures 23 April 14 27 in 1928,2018
  24 (tie) April 15 set in 2018
Daily Record Cold Low Temperatures 13 April 15 16 in 2014
       
Temperature Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
April 2020 Days with High Temperatures =>90°F
0
0.04
April 2020 Days with High Temperatures <= 32°F
1
0.73

Cold-season 2019-2020 Days with High Temperatures <= 32°F

83
87.7
April 2020 Days with Low Temperatures <= 32°F
18
15.7

Cold-season 2019-2020 Days with Low Temperatures <= 32°F

178
170.4
April 2020 Days with Low Temperatures <= 0°F
0
0.0

Cold-season 2019-2020 Days with Low Temperatures <= 0°F

28
42.7
 
Liquid Equivalent Precipitation (in)
April 2020
Normal
April 2020 Rainfall (in)
1.31
2.57
April Extremes
Precipitation (in)
Date
Most Daily Precipitation in April 2020
0.69
April 28
Record Precipitation in April 2020
Rainfall (in)
Date
Old Record

No records set

Precipitation Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
April 2020 Days with Measurable (>= 0.01 inch) Precipitation
9
8.4
April 2020 Days with >= 0.10 inch Precipitation
3
4.9
April 2020 Days with >= 0.25 inch Precipitation
2
3.1
April 2020 Days with >= 0.50 inch Precipitation
1
1.5
April 2020 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 2020
Normal
April 2020 Snowfall (in)
1.0
2.9
44.7
42.9
April Extremes
Snowfall (in)
Date
Most Daily Snowfall in April 2020
0.5
April 9
Record Snowfall in April 2020
Snowfall Thresholds
Number of Days
Average
April 2020 Days with Measurable (>= 0.1 inch) Snowfall
3
1.9
2019-2020 Cold Season Total Days with Measurable (>= 0.1 inch) Snowfall
34
31.8

April 2020 Days with >= 1.0 inch Snowfall

0
0.9
2019-2020 Cold Season Total Days with >= 1.0 inch Snowfall
14
14.0
April 2020 Days with >= 2.0 inch Snowfall
0
0.6
2019-2020 Cold Season Total Days with >= 2.0 inch Snowfall
9
7.6
April 2020 Days with >= 5.0 inch Snowfall
0
0.1
2019-2020 Cold Season Total Days with >= 5.0 inch Snowfall
0
1.4

 

 

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