April showers made dent in drought conditions

“April in Denton.” Reminds me of a song (ask your grandmother).

April was a more active month compared to 2019, 2020 and 2021. Denton County had at least three severe weather outbreaks during the month.

By the numbers, April was much warmer and wetter than normal. As of April 24^th, the average daytime high was 81 degrees, a full 7 degrees above the climatological norm, (remembering that reliable records from Denton Enterprise Airport go back just a few decades). The average low was 53, which was 2 degrees warmer than the norm.

April rainfall was finally above normal for once. About time. Prior to April, Denton Enterprise had recorded only 2.66” of rainfall for the first quarter of 2022 and only 1.34” during March.

At this writing, April 25^th, Denton had received 4.6 inches of rain. Normal for April is 2.50”.  We’ve received 6.56” so far in 2022.

The first outbreak of severe weather was on April 4^th, when at least 3 tornadoes were confirmed in Collin, Ellis and Johnson counties. Closer to home, Justin reported half-dollar sized hail.

The next severe weather event was April 12^th, when hail the size of quarters fell near Roanoke and Lantana.

Storms bringing heavy rain and some minor road swept across Denton County on April 24^th, but no damage or injuries were reported. At press time, Texas had confirmed at least 28 tornadoes during spring.

Congrats!

You just made it thru the windiest month in recent memory (1996 to be exact). This April was also the windiest April since 1963, and the 8th windiest April on record.#wfaaweather pic.twitter.com/217lkCSRJD

— Pete Delkus (@wfaaweather) May 1, 2022

Most everyone fears injury and loss from wind damage, flooding and hail, but there is good news. While tornadoes and other severe weather events continue to occur near their decadal averages and insured losses continue to mount, injuries and fatalities continue to decline.

In North Texas, only one fatality and fewer than 20 injuries have been reported so far this year. Still, one of these days, another powerful tornado is likely to cross the DFW metro area with millions of our neighbors in its path…one of these days.

It’s important to keep up with new warning technology, such as weather alert apps, weather alert radios (absolute must), text blasts from local emergency management personnel and plain old live, local AM radio (570, 820 or 1080 AM).

Looking ahead, the Climate Prediction Center continues to forecast warmer-than-normal and slightly drier-than-normal conditions in May and during the first two months of summer.