Dry & Warm Easter Weekend Ahead

Winter weather departs and Spring weather returns! Earlier this week we saw 0.3" of snowfall along with falling temperatures on Monday with Tuesday and Wednesday morning lows below freeing. Monday's high of 72° fell back to an evening low of 30°. It was the 1st time in weather history for a day on or after April 15 to see 70° and snow on the same day. It also marked the 4th time since 1975, we've seen measurable snow on or after April 15th. Tuesday's high temperature of 38° set a record for lowest high temperature. The previous record was 40° set 86 years in 1928. This cold blast was brief as each day this week has been warmer than the previous day for afternoon temperatures. This is mostly because the angle of the sun is higher so the sun is much stronger than that of the winter season. Daylights hours are continuing to increase and so far this year since January 1st, we've gained 4 hrs of daylight. We've been basking in lots of sunshine all week long and this will continue through the entire holiday weekend. April is ranked as the 5th most cloudiest month of the year so any and all sunshine is welcome.

A weak cold front passed through the state early Friday morning that triggered a few showers or sprinkles to the North but this didn't stop temperatures from climbing for the day. The clouds cleared and temperatures began to respond. A morning low temperature of 41° jumped to an afternoon high temperature of 70°. We are only halfway through the Spring season so we're seeing and will continue to see cool mornings and warm afternoons for the next few weeks. Thursday, April 17th marked the average date for our last freeze but there have been a few dates where the last freeze has occurred in May. The last time this happened was in May of 2005. The latest last spring freeze over the past 144 years of record-keeping happened 53 years ago on May 27th, 1961 when the thermometer dropped to 31°. Just a word of caution for those anxious to get some planting done. Here's quick glance back at the last spring freeze dates for the past 5 years.



A secondary cold front accompanied with a wind shift to the Northwest passing through Friday Night will help drop temperatures on Saturday morning into the 30s in some locations. Once again, sunshine will works its magic and afternoon highs will make a run towards the 70s once again. Things will be warmer for Easter day. We are looking at the warmest Easter here in 4 years and look to mark the 3rd driest Easter over the past 15 years, since 1999. The last two driest Easters was in 2009 and 2012. Its been quite some time since Easter day has been both dry & warm with temperatures 70+. I'll need to do research on that stat but I can say its been over 15 years. Here's a look at my Easter Weekend Weather Forecast. Its possible some may see temps a few degrees cooler for Saturday mornings lows than what I've depicted in the graphic below.



Since Easter Day isn't on the same date every year, weather can vary. Easter can come as early as mid March or as late as early May. If you really do the research you can come up with some really interesting weather stats for Easter day. For those interested in looking at some Easter climatology. Click HERE to be redirected to the site. Other info gathered and prepared by NWS is available in the graphic below.