A Look Back at April 2019

April 2019 Climate Summary for Eastern Utah and Western Colorado

*Please note that all data mentioned is collected from our automated observing stations from 10 different airports across eastern Utah and western Colorado. Some of our cooperative observers in more remote areas may have measured warmer or colder temperatures, or more or less precipitation than what was mentioned in this summary.*

April 2019 was ushered in with warm, quiet weather under a ridge of high pressure aloft. The break was short lived, however, as the ridge broke down, clouds increased over eastern Utah and western Colorado, and scattered showers and thunderstorms developed over the higher terrain. Yet another transitory ridge of high pressure remained overhead for the first weekend of the month before an upper level Pacific low and associated cold front moved into the Great Basin beginning April 8th. A tightening southwest gradient out ahead of this system produced strong winds at the surface with wind gusts exceeding 45 MPH over the higher elevations. As this storm lifted across the region it produced heavy snow, particularly over the mountains of eastern Utah. 12 to 22 inches of snow fell in the Eastern Uintas, close to 17 inches fell across the Tavaputs Plateau, and 16 to 24 inches fell in the La Sal Mountains. Unsettled north-northwesterly flow in the wake of this trough kept orographic showers going through the end of the second week of the month. Additionally, clearing skies led to enhanced radiational cooling in the lower valleys with overnight lows plummeting below freezing for the first time this season. A few additional disturbances rounded out the rest of the month with winter holding on until the very end as a strong low pressure system moved through the region the last few days of April. This storm produced wet, heavy snow over the mountains with snowfall amounts nearing or exceeding a foot over portions of the Grand Mesa, San Juans and West Elk Mountains above 8,500 feet.

Overall, April ended up being wetter than normal across the region. 8 out of the 10 automated stations at airports across eastern Utah and western Colorado ended the month with above normal precipitation. An exception was across portions of southwest Colorado with both the Durango and Cortez airports ending April with below normal precipitation. The most precipitation fell at the Meeker Airport where 2.30 inches fell. April was warmer than normal for most of the region with mean temperatures ranging anywhere from 1 to 4 degrees above normal. The warmest April temperature of 81 degrees occurred at the Grand Junction and Canyonlands airports. The coldest temperature of 16 degrees F occurred at the Durango-La Plata County Airport on April 12th.

Grand Junction had an average monthly temperature of 55.2 degrees which was 3.5 degrees above normal. The highest temperature was 81 degrees on April 26th and the lowest was 25 degrees on the 12th. 1.32 inches of precipitation fell throughout the month which was 0.41 inches above normal. A trace of snow fell (in the form of hail) which was 0.9 inches below normal.

Taking a quick look ahead to May, the official forecast from the Climate Prediction Center (https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/lead14/) shows odds of cooler than normal temperatures across western Colorado and northeast/east-central Utah with wetter than normal conditions across the entirety of eastern Utah and western Colorado.

For more climate information from other sites, please visit our climate page on our website at http://w2.weather.gov/climate/index.php?wfo=gjt (select the NOWDATA tab for even more sites). You can also follow us on Facebook (@NWSGrandJunction) or Twitter (@NWSGJT).