April 2012 Climate Summary

 THIS IS THE APRIL 2012 MONTHLY CLIMATE SUMMARY

             April 2012 has gone down as one of the driest months of April ever across the Mid-South. This is due to a large ridge of high pressure that has sat over the southeastern United States for the majority of the month. The lack of cold fronts coming through the area has also been a factor. This is the same story from the month of March that has carried into April. Temperatures for the month of April were still above normal, but not quite enough to crack the top 10 lists for the month. However, Memphis and Jonesboro were within 0.5 degrees of making it into the top 10 lists. April was not as abnormal for temperatures compared to March due to some cooler air that filtered down from the north during the middle of the month, which never seemed to happen in March. Temperatures for the year are still well above normal. Precipitation is well below normal for most sites, with the exception of Tupelo due to heavy rains received toward the end of March. Here is the climate data that tells the story:

Temperature data:

                                                  Memphis          Jackson            Jonesboro            Tupelo

Average Temperature (April):        66.0                 62.6                   64.8                    64.7

Normal Avg. Temp (April):             62.9                 60.0                   59.9                    62.1

Departure from Normal (April):      +3.1                +2.6                   +4.9                    +2.6

Average Temperature (Year):        56.9                 53.7                   54.3                    56.4

Departure from Normal (Year):      +6.0                 +5.8                   +7.0                    +5.5

Precipitation data:

                                                  Memphis          Jackson            Jonesboro            Tupelo

Total precipitation (April):              1.04                 1.15                   1.22                    1.75

Normal Precipitation (April):          5.50                 4.86                   5.02                    4.78

Departure from Normal (April):    -4.46                -3.71                  -3.80                   -3.03

Total precipitation (Year):             10.33               10.87                 11.15                  18.82

Departure from Normal (Year):     -8.70                -6.98                 -5.52                   -0.22

The following tables show the rank, precipitation amounts, year of occurrence, and its departure from the 1981-2010 set of normals. 

Top 10 Driest April Months on Record:

SIGNIFICANT WEATHER EVENTS:

The abnormally warm and dry conditions so far this year have been the main story for the Mid-South, continuing into the month of April. There were only a couple days with severe weather across the Mid-South. Compared to April 2011, April 2012 was extremely quiet with respect to severe weather. On April 5th, a few severe storms produced hail in the Missouri Bootheel and North Mississippi. There were two weak tornadoes that did no damage near the town of Hayti, Missouri. Severe thunderstorms also developed on April 26th ahead of a cold front over West Tennessee. Several reports of hail were received, including one report or baseball size hail near Hendersonville, TN. One tornado, rated an EF-2, struck near the town of Montezuma, TN also. This April saw a total 3 tornadoes across the Mid-South. In contrast, April 2011 had 22 tornadoes as well as numerous other severe weather events with large hail and swaths of wind damage. Due to the dry conditions across the region, there was also no flooding observed in April 2012. With respect to flooding, this month pales in comparison to April 2011. There were a couple of nights that were pretty chilly across the Mid-South, with near to below freezing low temperatures observed in portions of West Tennessee on the 12th and the 22nd.

CLIMATE OUTLOOK:

The Climate Prediction Center (CPC) continues to predict warmer than normal temperatures through the month of May in the one month outlook. The CPC has also forecast warmer than normal temperatures for the Mid-South in the 3 Month Temperature Outlook for May, June, and July. The precipitation is still forecast as having equal chances of above or below normal amounts over the next 3 months. Parts of West Tennessee and extreme Northeast Mississippi have been placed under "abnormally dry" conditions by the Drought Monitor. If conditions continue to be relatively dry, a drought could develop across the Mid-South over the next month.

RRH