A Chilly Vermont April? Will May Follow Suit?

Snow in the air in St. Albans Vermont on April 17. As you
probably know, April was on the chilly side and we have
the stats to prove it. 

The numbers for Vermont's April weather are in, and to nobody's surprise it was a chilly month.

Despite a relatively warm start, the month was between two and four degrees cooler than average over most of Vermont. Burlington was a little "warmer" as the mean temperature of 43.4 degrees was just 1.4 degrees cooler than average.

None of this chill came close to breaking records. We never came close to the frigid levels of the early 1970s, for instance.

It was notable how there were never any real spikes in temperature to interrupt last month's coolness. The warmest it ever got in Burlington was 67 degrees, which was the lowest April maximum since the peak of 64 degrees in April, 1995, which was also a much cooler than normal April.

The chill in the second half of the month was persistent, but not extreme. Every day except one from April 15 onward in Burlington was cooler than normal.  But the coldest in ever got in Burlington during the month was 26 degrees, which is kind of a warm reading for the so called coldest night in April.

April rainfall was generous in Vermont, with the notable exception of the Champlain Valley. Places like Montpelier, St. Johnsbury and Springfield were roughly a half inch to nearly an inch of rain wetter than average.

Burlington, though, only had 1.84 inches of rain in April, which is right around an inch on the dry side. I can attest to the dry soil conditions in the Champlain Valley. My gardens have been on the dusty side lately, and last night's rain really didn't amount to much.

Despite several high elevation snows, the Champlain Valley escaped any real accumulations. The total snowfall for the month in Burlington came to a very underwhelming 0.1 inches. That will very likely lead to a below average snow season in the Champlain Valley.

I suppose there could be a rare late season snowstorm in May, but likely not. So the snowfall for the winter o 2019-20 in Burlington will probably work out to 69.6 inches, which is about a foot below normal.

As always, I'm reluctant to forecast how the new month will turn out. However, signals are pretty strong that we will continue to be mostly colder than normal in Vermont through at least the middle of  May, possibly longer.

NOAA says odds are the Northeast will have a cool May.

It is turning out to be a bit of a reluctant spring.