April 2023

[LibertyBell]

43 minutes ago, SACRUS said:

 

Records:

 

Highs:

EWR: 83 (1985)
NYC: 80 (1928)
LGA: 74 (1989)

 

Lows:

 

EWR: 23 (1995)
NYC: 20 (1874)
LGA: 25 (1995)

Historical:

1936: Approximately 454 people were killed in the second-deadliest tornado outbreak ever in U.S. More than 12 twisters struck Arkansas to South Carolina. An estimated F5 tornado cut a path 400 yards wide through the residential section of Tupelo, Mississippi. At least 216 people were killed, and 700 were injured. The tornado had a 15-mile long path and did $3 million in damage. One of the survivors in Tupelo was a baby of an economically strapped family who had an infant they'd recently named Elvis Aaron Presley. Gainesville, Georgia had at least 203 fatalities and 934 injuries from an estimated F4 tornado that occurred early the following morning. 

1945 - The temperature at Eagles Nest, NM, plunged to 45 degrees below zero to establish an April record for the United States. (Sandra and TI Richard Sanders - 1987)

1955 - The Northern Rockies and the Northern High Plains were in the midst of a four day storm which produced 52 inches of snow at Lead, located in the Black Hills of western South Dakota. (David Ludlum)

1972 - A tornado, 500 yards wide at times, touched down at a marina on the Oregon side of the Columbia River, and then tore through Vancouver WA killing six persons, injuring 300 others, and causing more than five million dollars damage. It was the deadliest tornado of the year, and the worst of record for Washington. (The Weather Channel)

 

1972: An F3 tornado, touched down at a marina on the Oregon side of the Columbia River, and then tore through Vancouver, Washington. The tornado killed six people, injuring 300 others, and causing more than five million dollars damage. It was the deadliest tornado of the year and the worst on record for Washington. 

1982 - An unprecedented April blizzard began in the northeastern U.S. One to two feet of snow fell across Massachusetts and Connecticut, and up to 26 inches was reported in Maine. New York City received a foot of snow. Winds reached 70 to 80 mph during the storm, and the storm also produced numerous thunderstorms, which contributed to the heavy snow. (Storm Data)

1987 - A storm produced unprecedented April snows in the central Appalachians. Mount Mitchell NC received 35 inches of snow, and up to 60 inches (six feet) of snow was reported in the mountains along the border of North Carolina and Tennessee. The total of 25 inches at Charleston WV easily surpassed their previous record for the entire month of April of 5.9 inches. The 20.6 inch total at Akron OH established an all-time record for that location. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)

1988 - Thirty-nine cities across the eastern half of the country reported record high temperatures for the date, including Saint Louis MO with a reading of 91 degrees. Laredo TX was the hot spot in the nation with an afternoon high of 100 degrees. (The National Weather Summary)

1989 - Unseasonably hot weather prevailed in the southwestern U.S. Afternoon highs of 100 degrees at Santa Maria CA and 105 degrees in Downtown Los Angeles established records for the month of April. (The National Weather Summary)

1990 - Afternoon and evening thunderstorms developing along a cold front produced severe weather in southern Oklahoma, southern Arkansas, and north central and northeastern Texas. Thunderstorms spawned a dozen tornadoes in Texas, including one at Fort Worth which caused a million dollars damage. There were nearly one hundred reports of large hail and damaging winds. Thunderstorms in Texas produced hail three and a half inches in diameter west of Fort Worth, and produced wind gusts to 80 mph at Cross Plains. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

1982 - An unprecedented April blizzard began in the northeastern U.S. One to two feet of snow fell across Massachusetts and Connecticut, and up to 26 inches was reported in Maine. New York City received a foot of snow. Winds reached 70 to 80 mph during the storm, and the storm also produced numerous thunderstorms, which contributed to the heavy snow. (Storm Data)

 

What an amazing snowstorm this was, it would be awesome to see some satellite images and weather maps from this historic event!

[Allsnow]

 

[MJO812]

13 minutes ago, Allsnow said:

 

Not fair

[Roger Smith]

2 hours ago, LibertyBell said:

1982 - An unprecedented April blizzard began in the northeastern U.S. One to two feet of snow fell across Massachusetts and Connecticut, and up to 26 inches was reported in Maine. New York City received a foot of snow. Winds reached 70 to 80 mph during the storm, and the storm also produced numerous thunderstorms, which contributed to the heavy snow. (Storm Data)

 

What an amazing snowstorm this was, it would be awesome to see some satellite images and weather maps from this historic event!

The low tracked from about Colorado to Ohio 4th to 6th when it redeveloped over New Jersey and a 980 mb center formed south of Long Island, which tracked past Cape Cod into the Gulf of Maine 7th-8th with a very tight circulation. 

Here's a link to maps: 

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/reanalysis.php?map=2&model=noaa&var=1&jaar=1982&maand=04&dag=06&uur=1200&h=1&tr=360&nmaps=24#mapref

With the previous low that moved past to the north on 3rd-4th, NYC recorded 1.86" of rain on 3rd, then 9.6" snow on 6th from liquid equivalent of 1.11". The daily high/low values from 1st to 10th are 65/46 58/36 56/43 52/32 48/27 41/21 30/21 43/25 39/34 53/34. Would have to think the max of 41F on 6th was early, the low reformed between 06z and 12z so it may have been briefly a rain-snow mix turning to all snow. The 21F must have been at midnight as it applies to 7th as well. 

Toronto also had extreme values that set daily records for temperature (max 22F on 6th, min 13F on 7th) but the total snowfall there was only 3.2 cm or 1.3". About 5-7" fell across southern Quebec and 8-12" in the Canadian maritimes from late 6th to early 8th, there must have been some much higher snowfalls in New England though. I found one link that states the NWS forecast 14" from a blizzard for Boston but the article didn't mention actual amounts. 

 

 

[jm1220]

3 hours ago, MJO812 said:

Not fair

We should save up our weenie tears in case we probably develop a summer drought.

[bluewave]

Plenty of cold that year for record snow and cold into April.

 

Time Series Summary for NEWARK LIBERTY INTL AP, NJ - Jan through Dec
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

Rank	Year	Lowest Min Temperature	Missing Count
1	1934	-14	0
2	1985	-8	0
-	1933	-8	0
3	1982	-7	0
-	1943	-7	0

 

Data for January 1, 1982 through January 31, 1982
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

Name	Station Type	Lowest Min Temperature
TOMS RIVER	COOP	-19
MORRIS PLAINS 1 W	COOP	-16
HIGH POINT PARK	COOP	-15
BELLEPLAIN STA FOREST	COOP	-14
PEMBERTON	COOP	-14
INDIAN MILLS 2 W	COOP	-13
LAKEHURST NAS	WBAN	-13
SOMERVILLE 4 NW	COOP	-12
ESTELL MANOR	COOP	-12
EWING 3 WNW	COOP	-11
CHARLOTTEBURG RESERVOIR	COOP	-11
Trenton Area	ThreadEx	-11
LONG VALLEY	COOP	-10
ESSEX FELLS SERVICE BLDG	COOP	-10
NEWTON	COOP	-10

 

Time Series Summary for NEWARK LIBERTY INTL AP, NJ - Month of Apr
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

Rank	Year	Lowest Min Temperature	Missing Count
1	1982	16	0
2	1995	23	0
-	1954	23	0
3	1943	24	0

 

Data for April 6, 1982 through April 6, 1982
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

State	Name	Station Type	Total Snowfall
NY	ISLIP-LI MACARTHUR AP	WBAN	16.0
NY	PORT JERVIS	COOP	15.1
NJ	NEWARK LIBERTY INTL AP	WBAN	12.8
NJ	TETERBORO AIRPORT	WBAN	12.0
NY	WESTCHESTER CO AP	WBAN	12.0
NJ	LODI	COOP	11.5
NY	SCARSDALE	COOP	10.2
NJ	PLAINFIELD	COOP	10.1
NJ	MIDLAND PARK	COOP	10.0
CT	STAMFORD 5 N	COOP	10.0
CT	DANBURY	COOP	10.0
NY	DOBBS FERRY-ARDSLEY	COOP	9.7
NY	NY CITY CENTRAL PARK	WBAN	9.6

 

Time Series Summary for ISLIP-LI MACARTHUR AP, NY - Month of Apr
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

Rank	Year	Total Snowfall	Missing Count
1	1982	16.0	0
2	1996	9.6	0
3	2003	5.0	0
4	2018	4.6	0
5	1990	3.0	0

 

Time Series Summary for Chicago Area, IL (ThreadEx) - Jan through Dec
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

Rank	Year	Lowest Min Temperature	Missing Count
1	1985	-27	0
2	1982	-26	0
3	1983	-25	0
4	2019	-23	0
-	1872	-23	163
5	1984	-22	0
6	1994	-21	0
-	1899	-21	0
7	1897	-20	0
-	1875	-20	0

 

 

[SnoSki14]

8 hours ago, Wxoutlooksblog said:

NAM now gets NYC to 80 tomorrow. Maybe they'll get there. Extremely warm pattern ahead with a reasonable chance that Central Park gets to 90 degrees at some point this month.

WX/PT

Models might be jumping the gun a bit but at the same time it wouldn't take much to push temps towards 90F.

It's probably easier to do now with the lack of vegetation than later in spring. 

[donsutherland1]

While the region was caught in low clouds, a chilly onshore breeze, drizzle, and fog, parts of the Middle Atlantic area saw temperatures surge to record highs. Records included:

Baltimore: 84° (tied record set in 2010)
Sterling, VA: 88° (old record: 86°, 2010)
Washington, DC: 87° (old record: 86°, 1910)

The warmest air so far this season will push into the region for tomorrow. Temperatures will soar into the middle and upper 70s in New York City and the lower 80s in parts of New Jersey southward.

Following some late-day showers and thunderstorms, cooler air will return to end the week. The cool weather will continue through the weekend before another potentially impressive warmup develops.

Overall, the first week of April will turn out warmer than normal. As has been the case throughout the winter and early part of spring, the coldest air will remain confined largely to western and central North America. Some of the guidance brings a brief shot of the cooler air into the East early in the second week of April, but the EPS weeklies have backed off on the cold. If some of the long-range guidance is accurate the first three weeks of the could put April 2023 on a trajectory that could rank it among the 10 warmest Aprils on record.

The ENSO Region 1+2 anomaly was +2.0°C and the Region 3.4 anomaly was 0.0°C for the week centered around March 29. For the past six weeks, the ENSO Region 1+2 anomaly has averaged +1.38°C and the ENSO Region 3.4 anomaly has averaged -0.08°C. Neutral ENSO conditions will likely prevail through at least mid-spring.

The SOI was +1.87 today.

The preliminary Arctic Oscillation (AO) was +0.567 today.

On April 3 the MJO was in Phase 5 at an amplitude of 1.165 (RMM). The April 2-adjusted amplitude was 1.277 (RMM).

 

[donsutherland1]

The latest data now shows the temperature getting close to 80° in New York City. Newark should rise into the lower 80s.

[CIK62]

The next 8 days are averaging     59degs.(49/69) or +8.

Reached 55 here yesterday.

Today:     71-76[doubtful], wind w. to nw., cloudy, rain late, 6pm-midinight, 49 tomorrow AM.

Not back to Normal till the 19th.

50*(99%RH) here at 7am.      51* at 8am.      53* at 8:30am.       56* at 9am.       57* at 10am.       60* at 11am.       63* at Noon.      68* at 1pm.       70*(75%RH) at 2pm.       73* at 2:30pm.      Sun comes out and T crashes to 67* at 3pm and 60* at 3:30pm.       58* at 4:30.        Back to 66* at 6pm.        63* at 10pm-some drizzle in the last hour.

[SACRUS]

We'll see if we get enough break in the clouds to get to 80 in the area.

 

[bluewave]

On 4/2/2023 at 7:55 PM, BucksCO_PA said:

so over the previous 47 yrs. back to 1975 there was 1 tornado recorded in NJ during the month of April, yesterday there were 4

Looks like NJ tied the daily record.

 

 

 

[Volcanic Winter]

It’s still bizarre to me how we had a supercell EF3 recently; it’s not common for proper rotating discrete supercells to form in this area. They require an enormous amount of energy in the form of absolutely perfect conditions (which aren’t common here) for them to maintain and perpetuate, and it’s why most of our tornadoes are relatively weak spinups along a QLCS. 

It’s one thing to get embedded tornadoes inside linear storm complexes (and those can certainly be strong and damaging), but it’s going to be really wild if we start to see an uptick in discrete supercells producing tornadoes here. 

[Picard]

For as warm as it's supposed to be later, the last 24 hours+ have actually been quite raw, with temps in the mid 40s to low 50s, overcast and damp.  It was even cold in the house and had to bump the heat back up.  Pretty typical dreary early spring weather.

Would love to see 80 later, but the fact I'm still pretty socked in with cloud clover makes me skeptical.

[bluewave]

1 hour ago, Volcanic Winter said:

It’s still bizarre to me how we had a supercell EF3 recently; it’s not common for proper rotating discrete supercells to form in this area. They require an enormous amount of energy in the form of absolutely perfect conditions (which aren’t common here) for them to maintain and perpetuate, and it’s why most of our tornadoes are relatively weak spinups along a QLCS. 

It’s one thing to get embedded tornadoes inside linear storm complexes (and those can certainly be strong and damaging), but it’s going to be really wild if we start to see an uptick in discrete supercells producing tornadoes here. 

This a list but some events could be missing.

https://medium.com/@CC_StormWatch/tornadoes-in-the-northeast-not-as-rare-as-you-think-75470d533eae

• June 9, 1953 — Worcester, MA EF-4 tornado, resulted in 90 deaths and over 1,000 injuries, by far the worst Northeast tornado

• Storm Events Database

  Event Details:

• https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=10080366

• Event	Tornado
  Magnitude	0
  -- Scale	F3
  -- Length	.4 Miles
  -- Width	50 Yards
  State	NEW JERSEY
  County/Area	MORRIS
  NCEI Data Source	PUB
  Begin Date	1973-05-28 18:55 CST

• October 3, 1979 — Windsor Locks, CT EF-4 tornado, resulted in 3 deaths
• https://bigfrog104.com/33-years-ago-this-week-an-f3-tornado-touchdown-in-boonville-video/

On May 2nd, 1983 an F3 tornado and other storms ripped through and ravaged 11 New York counties. People were killed, several were injured, and there was detrimental property damage. On this week 33 years later, we remember that day with this Raw Footage from Matt Lanza who worked at WKTV at the time.

May 1985

https://www.weather.gov/ctp/TornadoOutbreak_May311985
On the evening of May 31st, 1985, a devastating and deadly tornado outbreak struck the Northeastern United States and Canada. 43 tornadoes and numerous damaging thunderstorms tore across Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario.  This event was the deadliest tornado outbreak of the 1980's; killing 89 people in total, injuring more than 1,000 others, and racking up more than $600 million in property damage.  In fact, since May 31, 1985, only two tornado days have been deadlier in the entire United States. 

Storm Events Database

Event Details:

https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=10082624

Event	Tornado
Magnitude	0
-- Scale	F3
-- Length	.2 Miles
-- Width	10 Yards
State	NEW JERSEY
County/Area	OCEAN
NCEI Data Source	PUB
Begin Date	1983-07-21 19:30 CST
Begin Location	0

• July
• 10, 1989 — Tornado outbreak Multiple EF-2 to EF-4 tornadoes, including in New Haven, CT and near Albany, NY, no deaths but many injuries

• Storm Events Database

  Event Details:

• https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=10080366

• Event	Tornado
  Magnitude	0
  -- Scale	F3
  -- Length	.5 Miles
  -- Width	100 Yards
  State	NEW JERSEY
  County/Area	SOMERSET
  NCEI Data Source	PUB
  Begin Date	1990-10-18 17:07 EST
  Begin Location	0

• May 31, 1998 — Tornado outbreak Multiple EF-2 and EF-3 tornadoes in several states, including NY and PA, resulted in 5 deaths and many injuries
• June 2, 1998 — Tornado outbreak Two days later, multiple tornadoes up to EF-4 in NY, PA and MD, resulted in 2 deaths
• September 24, 2001 — College Park, MD EF-3 tornado, resulted in 2 deaths and over 60 injuries
• April 28, 2002 — La Plata, MD EF-4 tornado, resulted in 5 deaths and many injuries
• June 1, 2011 — Springfield/Monson, MA EF-3 tornado, resulted in 3 deaths and 200+ 

Update on August 1, 2021: at least 9 tornadoes touched down in the NWS Mount Holly area, including southeastern Pennsylvania and central and southern New Jersey. They included an EF-3 tornado in Bucks County, PA (in the Philadelphia suburbs).

 

Storm Events Database

Event Details:

https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=972306

Begin Date

2021-09-01 17:10 EST-5

Event	Tornado
-- Scale	EF3
-- Length	12.37 Miles
-- Width	400 Yards
State	NEW JERSEY
County/Area	GLOUCESTER
WFO	PHI
Report Source	NWS Storm Survey
NCEI Data Source	CSV

 

[snywx]

62/57 here 

sun is out 

[MANDA]

Latest Drought Monitor shows slight expansion in Moderate Drought into southwest Delaware and an Abnormally Dry patch has popped up over NW NJ.

Little significant rainfall expected over the next week.  Only local showers expected with rather warm temperatures for April  Hope this pattern changes or we're going to see a dry Spring.

[NorthShoreWx]

40s at this moment along Long Island Sound and mid 60s by the expressway 

[winterwx21]

Looks as if the severe threat is staying well to the south today. Any showers/storms that hit up here will likely hold off until early evening, so they could have gotten the Mets home opener in this afternoon. Looks as if they made a blunder postponing it. I don't agree with postponing games for mediocre t-storm chances. 

[HailMan06]

On 4/5/2023 at 11:25 AM, jm1220 said:

To get to 90 hopefully there can be a W or WNW downslope day to really max the heat potential without too much humidity capping it. We really heat up in the summer on those kind of days vs the much more frequent S flow these days that pump up the humidity. 

We also have many more patterns now with the ridge peaking well north of us which encourages the S and even SE flow around the south side of the high. 

Trade winds extending further north?

[Brian5671]

12 minutes ago, winterwx21 said:

Looks as if the severe threat is staying well to the south today. Any showers/storms that hit up here will likely hold off until early evening, so they could have gotten the Mets home opener in this afternoon. Looks as if they made a blunder postponing it. I don't agree with postponing games for mediocre t-storm chances. 

Generally agree but it's home opener with an off day the next day with 100% chance of dry weather....any other game I agree with you.

[Stormlover74]

Up to 64..should be off to the races the next few hours

[CIK62]

Noon T distribution:       I have just 63 in CI.

 

Two little popups by PHI:

[TWCCraig]

72 and cloudy

[allgame830]

70 and cloudy. Was partly sunny about 30 minutes ago.

[Cfa]

Don’t know the temp but it’s sunny and very warm on the south shore, borderline hot in the sun. Wunderground showing 76-77 around here which feels accurate.

[Brian5671]

Quick jump to 70 here but clouds rolling back in

[SACRUS]

 

Records:

 

Highs:

 

EWR: 80 (1947)
NYC: 79 (1947)
LGA: 80 (1947)

 

Lows:

EWR: 17 (1982)
nyC: 21 (1982)
LGA: 22 (1982)

 

Historical:

 

 

1909: American explorer Robert Peary and five others reached what they determined to be the North Pole on this day. Historical analysis suggests he fell a few miles short of achieving his goal.

1936 - A tornado outbreak in the Deep South resulted in a total of 446 deaths and eighteen million dollars damage. It was a "Tale of Two Cities". During the evening of the 5th a tornado hit Tupelo MS killing 216 persons, injuring 700 others, and causing three million dollars damage. The next morning the paths of two tornadoes met about 8:30 AM and cut a swath four blocks wide through Gainesville GA killing 203 persons, injuring 934, and causing thirteen million dollars damage. Eight to ten feet of debris filled the streets following the storm. At least 70 persons died in the Cooper Pants Factory, the greatest tornado toll of record for a single building. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)

 

1973: On this date through the 8th, a major spring snowstorm dumped 11.6 inches of snow across Denver, Colorado. Most of the heavy wet snow of 10.1 inches fell on the 7th when temperatures remained in the 20s. The low temperature of 5 degrees on the 8th was a new record low for the date and the lowest for so late in the season. 

1983 - The temperature at Denver, CO, dipped to a record cold seven degrees above zero. (The Weather Channel)

1987 - Rain and melting snow caused flooding from New England to Ohio. Flooding in the Merrimack Valley of Massacusetts was the worst in fifty years, causing forty-two million dollars damage. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

1988 - A powerful storm produced wind gusts to 75 mph around Chicago, IL, and wind gusts to 92 mph at Goshen IN. The high winds created twenty-five foot waves on Lake Michigan. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)

1989 - Unseasonably hot weather prevailed in California. Afternoon highs of 91 degrees in Downtown San Francisco, 93 degrees at San Jose, 98 degrees at San Diego, 103 degrees at Santa Maria, 104 degrees at Riverside, and 106 degrees in Downtown Los Angeles established records for the month of April. (The National Weather Summary)

1990 - Snow developed in the northeastern U.S. for the second time in the month. In Virginia, a heavy wet snow blanketed northern and central sections of the Shenandoah Valley, and eastern foothills, with up to 12 inches reported around Harrisonburg. Heavy snow also blanketed the high elevations of West Virginia, with 10 inches reported at Snowshoe. An inch of snow at Syracuse NY raised their total for the winter season to a record-tying 161.3 inches. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

2005 - Thunderstorms erupted and produced severe weather including 32 reports of tornadoes, most of which touched down in Mississippi and Louisiana. Between 20 and 25 homes were destroyed and 7 people were injured. Mississippi governor Haley Barbour declared a state of emergency (CNN).

 

2007: In Cleveland, Ohio on the 6th to the 9th:  The opening-season series between the Indians and Minnesota Twins is wiped out by a snowstorm and a cold snap. The Indians led 4-0 when their home opener Friday on the 6th was called off by umpires because of heavy snow. The grounds crew who tried to make the field playable with backpack blowers and brooms spent more time on the field than the players during nearly three hours of stoppages. About a foot of snow remained on the ground Monday afternoon the 9th.

[weathermedic]

Up to 72 with mostly cloudy skies.

[Gravity Wave]

That 1985 outbreak is one of the most anomalous weather events in US history based on the number and proportion of violent tornadoes versus where it occurred. I've always wondered if something like that could happen 150 miles east of where it did; the recent uptick in severe weather makes me suspect that it might be possible, if only as a once in 500-year event (I'm referring to a major outbreak of violent tornadoes here, not a singular freak tornado like the Worcester and Windsor Locks events).