April 2021: Near Average Temperatures with a Rare Winter Storm

May 10, 2021 // Article by: Zach Graff

April in the Midwest was pretty average in terms of temperatures, but Chicago did finish 2 degrees above average. The month started off on a cold note but there were many temperature fluctuations throughout the heart of April, before finally ending on the warm side. With regards to precipitation, it was drier than normal for all, with Columbus the closest to average at 3.28” (normal 3.85”).  This was ~4.5 times more than Chicago saw all month. As we head further into spring and eventually summer, severe weather usually begins to ramp up, but it was fairly quiet in April 2021 with only two days of featuring isolated reports of severe winds. While snowfall isn’t unheard of during the month, an abnormally strong and cold low pressure system moved across the region on the 20th. This led to accumulating snow across the region, with areas in Ohio observing up to 4”!

The start of the month began on a cold note with temperatures mainly in the upper 30s to lower 40s thanks to a minor disturbance rotating through the Midwest. It was cold enough to produce scattered snow showers, which were at times moderate to heavy in intensity and led to scattered coatings. After this, high pressure redeveloped from the 2nd and 5th allowing conditions to turn warm and dry with afternoon highs reaching the upper 70s to lower 80s. During this stretch, specifically on April 3rd, it was the first 70-degree day recorded in Chicago of the year. The brief dry stretch quickly came to a halt as a series of systems pushed through between the 6th and 12th. While Chicago saw almost their entire amount of rain for the month during this time, areas to the east like Indianapolis saw almost 2.00". This stretch did produce some downed trees, particularly on April 9th as a few thunderstorms produced winds up to 70 mph. 

After this anomalous warm stretch, abnormally cold air settled into the Midwest, with afternoon highs in the 50s with overnight lows in the 30s.  This chilly air was just in time to get wrapped into a strong storm, which allowed rain to transition to a period of moderate to heavy snow on April 20th before tapering off to snow showers into April 21st. Chicago saw the least amount of snow with only a coating – 1”. Lower amounts were to the north towards I-90, while the highest fell around Joliet. As the storm headed east, it strengthened and allowed 1-3” to fall in Indianapolis and eventually 2-4” in Dayton, Cincinnati, and Columbus. After this cold stretch, temperatures rebounded back into the 80s on the 27th and 28th, before a front swept through on the 29th and 30th. This resulted in cooler temperatures and another round of heavy rain. Areas like Columbus and Cincinnati saw almost 2.00”, while Chicago saw less than a 0.10”. This solidified this April as the 6th driest April on record with only 0.71” of precipitation for Chicagoland. 

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