WFO San Angelo Climatology

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...RETRANSMISSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
1158 PM CDT MON MAY 1 2000
  
...WARMER AND DRIER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AGAIN IN APRIL
ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS...

ALTHOUGH SEVERAL WEATHER SYSTEMS PROVIDED MUCH NEEDED RAINFALL TO 
PARTS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS DURING THE MONTH OF APRIL...PRECIPITATION 
TOTALS WERE STILL BELOW NORMAL FOR MANY LOCATIONS...INCLUDING 
ABILENE AND SAN ANGELO. AT ABILENE REGIONAL AIRPORT...JUST 0.64 
INCH OF RAIN FELL IN APRIL...OR 1.26 INCHES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 1.90 
INCHES. AT SAN ANGELO REGIONAL AIRPORT...ONLY 0.57 INCH OF RAIN WAS
RECORDED. THIS WAS 1.10 INCHES BELOW THE MONTHLY NORMAL OF 1.67 
INCHES.  

TEMPERATURES AVERAGED ABOVE NORMAL AGAIN DURING APRIL...WITH 
UNUSUALLY HOT WEATHER ON A NUMBER OF DAYS.  THE AVERAGE MONTHLY 
TEMPERATURE IN SAN ANGELO WAS 70.0 DEGREES...OR 3.0 DEGREES ABOVE 
NORMAL. IN ABILENE...THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR APRIL WAS 67.7 
DEGREES...WHICH WAS 2.3 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. TEMPERATURES CLIMBED 
TO 90 DEGREES OR ABOVE ON 10 DAYS DURING THE MONTH AT SAN ANGELO...
AND THIS SHOULD NORMALLY OCCUR ON JUST 5 DAYS. AT ABILENE...THE
TEMPERATURE CLIMBED TO 90 DEGREES OR ABOVE ON 8 DAYS...COMPARED TO 
THE NORMAL OF 3. SAN ANGELO SET NEW RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES ON THE 
7TH AND 27TH. ABILENE TIED A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE ON THE 6TH...AND 
SET A NEW RECORD HIGH ON THE 19TH. A COLD SPELL DID OCCUR TOWARD THE 
BEGINNING OF THE MONTH...AS SAN ANGELO SET A NEW RECORD LOW 
TEMPERATURE ON THE 4TH. 

...APRIL 2000 WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS...
 
ON SEVERAL DAYS DURING THE MONTH...THE PRESENCE OF EITHER A COLD 
FRONT OR DRYLINE BROUGHT ORGANIZED SEVERE THUNDERSORMS AND LOCALIZED 
HEAVY RAINFALL TO PARTS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. THE HARDEST HIT AREA 
WAS AROUND ELBERT IN NORTHEASTERN THROCKMORTON COUNTY. ON THE 15TH...
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCED BASEBALL TO SOFTBALL SIZE HAIL AROUND   
ELBERT. THIS HAIL SHATTERED VEHICLE WINDSHIELDS IN A PARK LOCATED     
NEAR ELBERT. THEN IN THE LATE AFTERNOON HOURS ON THE 30TH...A 
TORNADIC STORM OCCURRED IN THROCKMORTON COUNTY. A TORNADO DEVELOPED 
ABOUT 10 MILES NORTH OF THE TOWN OF THROCKMORTON...AND THEN TRACKED 
EASTWARD ACROSS ELBERT AND INTO YOUNG COUNTY. THIS TORNADO OVERTURNED 
A TRACTOR TRAILER RIG ON HIGHWAY 283 NORTH OF THROCKMORTON. IN 
ELBERT...THE TORNADO DESTROYED SEVERAL HOMES AND BARNS AND A LOCAL 
COTTON GIN...AND TORE DOWN POWER LINES. FORTUNATELY...NO ONE WAS 
INJURED FROM THIS TORNADO.     

A STRONG COLD FRONT MOVED SOUTH ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS DURING THE 
EVENING AND EARLY NIGHTTIME HOURS OF THE 11TH...TRIGGERING NUMEROUS 
THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL...SOUTH OF A LINE FROM SAN ANGELO TO 
BROWNWOOD. NEARLY TWO DOZEN REPORTS OF LARGE HAIL WERE RECEIVED. THE 
LARGEST REPORTED HAIL INCLUDED TENNIS BALL SIZE AT ROCKWOOD AND 12 
MILES NORTH OF ELDORADO...AND BASEBALL SIZE AT MERTZON. THIS SYSTEM 
ALSO BROUGHT MUCH NEEDED RAIN SOUTH OF A STERLING CITY TO BROWNWOOD 
LINE. RAINFALL AMOUNTS FROM ONE QUARTER OF AN INCH TO ONE INCH WERE
COMMON. SCATTERED LOCATIONS RECEIVED ONE TO TWO INCH AMOUNTS. THREE 
TO FOUR INCHES OF RAIN FELL OVER NORTHERN SCHLEICHER COUNTY AND 
SOUTHWEST BROWN COUNTY.             

WITH VERY WARM AND UNSTABLE AIR OVER THE REGION ON THE 20TH...
NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED ALONG AND AHEAD OF A DRYLINE DURING 
THE EVENING AND EARLY NIGHTTIME HOURS. THE THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRED 
SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM BROWNWOOD TO SAN ANGELO TO BARNHART. STORMS 
PRODUCED WIND DAMAGE 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ELDORADO...AND 60 MPH WIND 
GUSTS IN ELDORADO. NUMEROUS REPORTS OF LARGE HAIL WERE RECEIVED. THE 
LARGEST HAIL REPORTED WAS GOLFBALL SIZE...AT CHRISTOVAL AND IN CONCHO 
COUNTY. THE HEAVIEST RAIN FROM THESE STORMS FELL BETWEEN EDEN AND 
COLEMAN...AND BETWEEN ELDORADO AND OZONA. IN THESE AREAS...AMOUNTS 
FROM ONE TO 2.5 INCHES FELL. OTHERWISE...RAINFALL AMOUNTS WERE 
GENERALLY LESS THAN ONE INCH. 

ON THE EVENING OF THE 27TH...A WEAK COLD FRONT MOVING SOUTH ACROSS 
WEST CENTRAL TEXAS TRIGGERED SCATTERED STRONG TO SEVERE 
STORMS...SOUTH OF A LINE FROM SAN SABA TO SAN ANGELO TO MERTZON. 
SEVERAL REPORTS OF LARGE HAIL WERE RECEIVED. THE LARGEST HAIL SIZE 
REPORTED WAS QUARTER SIZE IN IRION AND MENARD COUNTIES. THE STORMS 
ALSO BROUGHT LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL. A BAND OF HEAVY RAIN FELL 
FROM WESTERN CROCKETT COUNTY EAST ACROSS NORTHERN SCHLEICHER COUNTY 
INTO SOUTHERN MENARD COUNTY. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES 
OCCURRED ALONG THIS BAND...WITH A FEW LOCATIONS IN NORTHERN 
SCHLEICHER COUNTY RECEIVING NEARLY 4 INCHES. 

FROM LATE IN THE EVENING OF THE 29TH INTO THE EARLY HOURS OF THE 
30TH...SCATTERED SEVERE STORMS OCCURRED OVER THE NORTHERN BIG 
COUNTRY. THE MOST INTENSE SEVERE STORM OCCURRED ALONG THE JONES/
HASKELL COUNTY LINE...IN THE VICINITY OF STAMFORD. THIS STORM LASTED 
FOR ABOUT 90 MINUTES AND WAS NEARLY STATIONARY. THE STORM POUNDED 
STAMFORD WITH HAIL TO TEA CUP SIZE (THREE INCHES IN DIAMETER)...ALONG 
WITH RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES. THE VERY LARGE HAIL BROKE 
SEVERAL WINDOWS AND SHATTERED VEHICLE WINDSHIELDS. OTHER SEVERE 
STORMS PRODUCED 60 MPH WINDS AT ROCHESTER IN HASKELL COUNTY...CAUSED 
WIND DAMAGE TO A HOSPITAL ROOF AND OTHER STRUCTURES IN 
THROCKMORTON...AND DROPPED DIME SIZE HAIL AT FORT GRIFFITH IN 
SHACKELFORD COUNTY. 

DURING THE LATE EVENING HOURS OF THE 30TH...AS A COLD FRONT MOVED 
INTO WEST CENTRAL TEXAS...A LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS 
FORMED FROM ALBANY TO SAN ANGELO TO OZONA AND THEN MOVED SOUTHEAST. 
NUMEROUS REPORTS WERE RECEIVED OF LARGE HAIL...RANGING FROM DIME TO 
GOLFBALL SIZE. THUNDERSTORMS WINDS DAMAGED A CARPORT AND DOWNED 
POWERLINES IN THE TOWN OF COLEMAN. IN ADDITION TO THE SEVERE 
WEATHER...THE STROMS BROUGHT MUCH NEEDED RAINFALL TO EASTERN AND 
SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. WHILE MANY LOCATIONS 
RECEIVED AMOUNTS RANGING FROM ONE QUARTER OF AN INCH TO ONE INCH...
SOME LOCATIONS IN COLEMAN COUNTY...AND BETWEEN MASON AND SONORA... 
RECEIVED ONE TO TWO INCHES OF RAIN.