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A Record Setting Warm April Across the NWS Charleston Forecast Area with Below Normal Precipitation

Weekend Outlook

Saturday Severe Weather Outlook

A Look Back at a Record Setting April

Daily Weather Summary

A big warmup begins this weekend, with temperatures rising toward well-above normal values by early next week. This could impact heat sensitive populations as a result. Additionally, thunderstorms developing on Saturday could become strong to severe for portions of the Ohio River Valley as they venture into the area before sunset. Dry weather then settles back in for the end of the weekend.

Strong to severe storms capable of producing damaging wind gusts will be possible Saturday afternoon for portions of the Ohio River Valley. The strength of storms are expected to weaken as they venture eastward around sunset.

It was a record setting warm April across the NWS Charleston forecast area, with average temperatures generally 4 to 8 degrees above normal. This translated into all six official NWS Charleston climate locations having their warmest April on record. Both Elkins and Huntington broke their prior records by 1-2 degrees, while the other climate sites exceeded their prior records by less than a degree. Precipitation totals for the month of April varied across the forecast area, ranging from approximately 1 to 5 inches. In general, this resulted in widespread precipitation deficits, with some locations 1 to as much as 3 inches below normal. No top 10s were set at any of the official NWS Charleston climate locations in terms of driest April on record. Little to no snow fell during the month of April across the forecast area, with below normal values observed area wide, resulting in significant snowfall departures across the higher elevations of the mountains.

Daily climate information from each of the six climate sites in the NWS Charleston forecast area - Beckley, WV (KBKW); Charleston, WV (KCRW); Clarksburg, WV (KCKB); Elkins, WV (KEKN); Huntington, WV (KHTS); and Parkersburg, WV (KPKB).