Hot April, But Not Here, Mid-Atlantic Flooding

April was hot across most of the world, but look at that cold
spot over North America

A few tidbits today in the world of weather and climate news:

HOT APRIL, EXCEPT FOR US

For many of us in the United States from Montana to New England south to the central Plains to the Mid-Atlantic States, we want to forget April.

It was uncharacteristically cold and snowy, and some places in the northern Plains had their coldest April on record.

Our fortunes have gloriously reversed, and much of the nation is having an unusually warm May.

That April cold we had in the United States and southern Canada was an exception: The world as a whole had its third hottest April on record. Pretty much the only cold spot was here.

Only 2016 and 2017 had warmer April, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.  Also, April marked the 400th consecutive month of warmer than normal temperatures on Earth.

If you were born after December, 1984, you've never experienced a month when the world as a whole was cooler than average.

It's interesting that April was the third warmest, as things perhaps should have cooled off a bit more by now after the El Nino of 2016 and early 2017, El Ninos tend to make the Earth a bit warmer, regardless of global warming trends.

MID-ATLANTIC FLOODING

While the weather has been nice enough here up north in Vermont, it has been anything but as you head south. The rain has been persistent for a week in the Mid-Atlantic States and it's still coming down. Much of Maryland and Virginia have had at least three inches of rain in the past few days, and up to five inches more might fall in the next two or three days in some areas.

The Potomac River is expected to hit flood stage in and near Washington DC and upstream from there. At last report, some of the worst flooding is going on through a swath of east-central Virginia, and in southeastern Maryland.