APRIL 2010 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR WEST-CENTRAL TEXAS

...NO SEVERE WEATHER OCCURRED ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS IN
APRIL...

THE LACK OF SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS DURING
APRIL WAS AN UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE. PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH
WAS ABOVE NORMAL ACROSS MUCH OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. ACROSS
PARTS OF THE SOUTHERN HEARTLAND AND NORTHWEST HILL COUNTRY...
THE MONTHLY AMOUNTS WERE WELL ABOVE NORMAL. THE MONTHLY
PRECIPITATION WAS BELOW NORMAL ACROSS A SECTION EXTENDING
ROUGHLY FROM SHACKELFORD COUNTY SOUTH TO THE BORDER BETWEEN
CONCHO AND MCCULLOCH COUNTIES.

TEMPERATURES AVERAGED NEAR TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE
MONTH.

AT ABILENE REGIONAL AIRPORT...THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR APRIL
WAS 64.7 DEGREES. THIS WAS 0.1 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE OF 64.6 DEGREES. THIS  TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR APRIL
WAS 1.87 INCHES. THIS WAS 0.20 INCHES BELOW THE MONTHLY NORMAL OF
1.67 INCHES.

AT SAN ANGELO REGIONAL AIRPORT...THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR
APRIL WAS 65.7 DEGREES. THIS WAS 0.7 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 65.0 DEGREES. TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR
APRIL WAS 2.65 INCHES. THIS WAS 1.05 INCHES ABOVE THE MONTHLY
NORMAL OF 1.60 INCHES.

APRIL 2010 WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS...

ALTHOUGH SEVERAL STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES MOVED ACROSS
THE REGION DURING APRIL...NO SEVERE WEATHER OCCURRED IN WEST
CENTRAL TEXAS. THIS WAS UNUSUAL...AND WAS BROUGHT ABOUT BY A
PRIMARY FACTOR. DURING THE PRECEEDING WINTER SEASON...ON A
NUMBER OF OCCASIONS...COLD AND DRY AIRMASSES PLUNGED SOUTHWARD
WELL INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO.  THIS AFFECTED A LARGE ENOUGH
AREA TO REQUIRE AN EXTENSIVE PERIOD OF TIME FOR GULF MOISTURE
TO RECOVER TO TYPICAL LEVELS. AS A RESULT...THE DISTURBANCES
AND FRONTAL SYSTEMS WHICH MOVED INTO WEST CENTRAL TEXAS
INTERACTED WITH MOISTURE WHICH WAS TOO LIMITED...TO SUPPORT
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

GUSTY SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST WINDS BROUGHT AN INCREASE IN MOISTURE
TO THE REGION ON THE 1ST...OUT AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING UPPER
LEVEL STORM SYSTEM FROM THE SOUTHWESTERN STATES. A PEAK WIND OF
45 MPH WAS RECORDED AT ABILENE. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRED ACROSS THE BIG COUNTRY AND NORTHERN
CONCHO VALLEY DURING THE POST-MIDNIGHT HOURS OF THE 2ND...AS
THE STORM SYSTEM MOVED CLOSER TO THE REGION. A FEW OTHER
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRED DURING THE MORNING HOURS OF
THE 2ND...ACROSS EAST AND SOUTHEAST SECTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL
TEXAS. 

FOLLOWING A COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE ON THE 2ND...GUSTY WEST WINDS
DEVELOPED DURING THE AFTERNOON AND BROUGHT AN INTRUSION OF
MUCH DRIER AIR TO WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. RELATIVE HUMIDTY VALUES
DROPPED INTO THE 5 TO 15 PERCENT RANGE ACROSS THE BIG COUNTRY
AND CONCHO VALLEY. A PEAK WIND GUST OF 41 MPH OCCURRED IN
ABILENE.

TEMPERATURES WERE WARM ON THE 4TH TO 6TH WITH SOUTHWESTERLY
FLOW ALOFT OVER THE REGION. HIGHS DURING THAT TIME WERE IN
THE 80 TO 85 DEGREE RANGE WITH OVERNIGHT LOWS IN THE 60S.
WITH GUSTY SOUTH WINDS...A PEAK GUST OF 45 MPH WAS RECORDED AT
ABILENE ON THE 6TH. A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACCOMPANIED
A COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE DURING THE POST-MIDNIGHT AND EARLY
MORNING HOURS OF THE 7TH...MAINLY ACROSS THE EASTERN CONCHO
VALLEY AND HEARTLAND.

MUCH COOLER AND DRIER AIR MOVED INTO THE REGION BEHIND THE COLD
FRONT. WITH A COMBINATION OF CLEAR SKIES... A DRY AIRMASS AND
LIGHT WINDS...TEMPERATURES DIPPED INTO THE MID 20S TO MID 30S
FOR LOWS ON THE EARLY MORNING OF THE 8TH...AS HIGH PRESSURE
BUILT SOUTHEAST INTO THE REGION. THE COOL TEMPERATURES LINGERED
INTO THE 9TH WITH EARLY MORNING LOWS IN THE 30S ACROSS EAST AND
SOUTHEAST SECTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS.

CLOUD COVER INCREASED ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS ON THE 11TH.
WITH THE APPROACH AND ARRIVAL OF AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE...
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRED ON THE 11TH AND
12TH...MAINLY SOUTHWEST OF A LINE FROM BIG SPRING TO PAINT ROCK
TO MASON. A FEW LOCATIONS RECEIVED BETWEEN ONE HALF AND ONE
INCH...BUT MOST OF THE AMOUNTS VARIED UNDER ONE HALF INCH.

A WET PERIOD WITH CONSIDERABLE CLOUDINESS OCCURRED DURING THE
MIDDLE OF THE MONTH...WHEN SEVERAL WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES
ENTERED THE REGION FROM THE SOUTHWESTERN STATES AND INTERACTED
WITH MOISTURE OVER THE REGION. MOST OF THE RAIN OCCURRED FROM
THE 14TH TO 17TH. SOME LOCATIONS RECORDED MORE THAN 2 INCHES OF
RAINFALL DURING THAT TIME PERIOD.

LATE IN THE MONTH...THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRED ACROSS THE REGION
ON THE 23RD AND 24TH...WHEN A POWERFUL UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM
LIFTED FROM THE SOUTHWESTERN STATES INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS. A
LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS ACCOMPANIED A PACIFIC COLD FRONT AS IT
TRACKED EAST ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS DURING THE POST-MIDNIGHT
HOURS OF THE 23RD. GUSTY SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST WINDS DEVELOPED OUT
AHEAD THE APPROACHING SYSTEM. ABILENE RECORDED A PEAK WIND GUST
OF 43 MPH ON THE 22ND. WITH THE ARRIVAL OF THE LINE OF STORMS...
ABILENE RECORDED A PEAK WIND GUST OF 44 MPH ON THE 23RD.

ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRED FROM THE LATE
EVENING OF THE 23RD INTO THE POST-MIDNIGHT HOURS OF THE 24TH.
THESE WERE CONCENTRATED MAINLY SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM SONORA
TO BROWNWOOD. RAINFALL AMOUNTS FROM THIS EVENT WERE IN THE ONE
HALF TO 1.5 INCH RANGE ACROSS THE WESTERN BIG COUNTRY...NORTHERN
AND WESTERN CONCHO VALLEY...AND ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN PART OF
WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. ELSEWHERE THE AMOUNTS GENERALLY VARIED UNDER
ONE HALF INCH.  

WITH THE DEPARTURE OF THE UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM FARTHER AWAY
FROM TEXAS...DRY AIR OVERSPREAD WEST CENTRAL TEXAS ON THE 24TH...
AND WAS ACCOMPANIED BY GUSTY WEST WINDS. SAN ANGELO RECORDED A
PEAK WIND GUST OF 43 MPH.  

GUSTY SOUTH WINDS DEVELOPED ON THE 28TH AND CONTINUED ON THE 29TH.
ABILENE RECORDED A PEAK WIND OF 40 MPH ON THE 28TH AND 44 MPH ON
THE 29TH.

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