April in Review: Drier Than Average

April on a whole was near normal in terms of temperature across the area, with a few locations slightly above normal. However, it was a tale of two halves: the first 15 days were 5-8 degrees above average while the last 15 were generally 4-7 degrees below normal. The late month cold snap featured a few record cold temps as values reached the low 20s.

Despite a couple widespread rain systems, much of central and northeast South Dakota finished the month below average for total precipitation… by as much as 1.5” for some. A couple days featured thunderstorms which produced small hail across the area. This is not overly uncommon for April. Snowfall was also very lacking across the board, especially from Pierre to Redfield where 4-5” less snow than typical accumulated… or in other words where essentially no snow fell.

*APRIL 2016*
Temperature Data	Aberdeen	Sisseton	Wheaton	Watertown
Warmest Temperature / Date	76 / 8^th	78 / 8^th	80 / 9^th	75 / 8^th
Coldest Temperature / Date	15 / 11^th	23 / 29^th	26 / 10^th	21 / 29^th
Average High / Departure from Normal	59.4 / +2.4	58 / +1.7	56.6 / +1.4	55.4 / -0.2
Average Low / Departure from Normal	31.5 / -0.3	33.7 / +1.1	33.6 / +1.6	32.1 / 0.0
Monthly Average / Departure from Normal	45.4 / +1.0	45.8 / +1.3	45.1 / +1.5	43.8 / 0.0
Precipitation Data
Monthly Precipitation / Departure from Normal	1.38 / -0.47	1.57 / -0.71	1.74 / -0.5	1.74 / -0.28
Monthly Snowfall / Departure from Normal	1.8 / -1.3	0.7 / -3.1	Trace / -4.4	0.0 / -3.3
Most Precipitation in 24 hours / Date	0.51” / 18^th	0.60 / 18^th	0.65 / 18^th	0.80 / 9^th
Most Snow in 24 hours / Date	1.8” / 26^th	0.7 / 26^th	Trace / 26^th, 27^th	n/a

Temperature Data	Pierre	Kennebec	Mobridge	Timber Lake
Warmest Temperature / Date	81 / 7^th	77 / 8^th	80 / 7^th	76 / 14^th
Coldest Temperature / Date	21 / 27^th	18 / 27^th	21 / 17^th	23 / 17^th
Average High / Departure from Normal	60.5 / +0.8	63.7 / +1.5	61.3 / +3.3	59.5 / +0.7
Average Low / Departure from Normal	33.9 / -0.3	34.7 / +0.7	33.2 / +0.7	32.7 / 0.0
Monthly Average / Departure from Normal	47.2 / +0.2	49.4 / +1.3	47.2 / +1.9	46.3 / +0.5
Precipitation Data
Monthly Precipitation / Departure from Normal	1.78 / -0.03	1.96 / -0.2	0.48 / -1.09	0.69 / -0.99
Monthly Snowfall / Departure from Normal	Trace / -4.1	2.5 / -1.4	0.0 / -3.2	Trace / -5.3
Most Precipitation in 24 hours / Date	0.71 / 9^th	1.31 / 10^th	0.40 / 19^th	0.59 / 19^th
Most Snow in 24 hours / Date	Trace / 5^th, 25^th	2.5 / 10^st	n/a	Trace / 26^th