April 2012
April 2012 was another warm month for Springfield. The average temperature was nearly four degrees above the 30 year normal. It was the sixth month in a row of above normal temperatures. Nine of the past twelve months have seen above normal temperatures.
Springfield saw near normal rainfall for the month. However the Ozarks was divided in half overall with more generous rains to the north and less to the south. Areas northwest of Springfield saw rain totals more than 3″ above normal while areas of south-central Missouri and northern Arkansas experienced much drier conditions, as much as 4″ below the norm. West Plains had their sixth driest April on record.
April 2012 Precipitation
We had two wet periods in the month. The first was the 13-15th when 3.21″ inches of rain was recorded. The last occurred in the last days of the month, a rainy period which put down .77″ (storm total into early May was .90″)
Rainfall Departure from Normal
Severe weather pretty much left us alone during the month. Aside from an anomalous weak tornado in the wee hours of the 30th in Hickory County, we had very little in the way of severe wind or hail in the area. Much of the area was under a tornado watch on the 15th, the day after the tornado outbreak in the Great Plains but we had virtually no reports of any severe weather.
We did have a rare “heat burst” occur in the pre-dawn hours of the 25th. The Springfield National Weather Service has an excellent explanation of this atmospheric phenomenon.
The National Weather Service also has a review of the month of April on their web site.