From fires to rounds of severe weather, April brought its fair share of excitement across the Plains.
Early in the month, wildfires were ignited by dry lightning in western Oklahoma and the Panhandle of Texas. Passing storms with little rain moving through April 9 are believed to be the causes of the blazes.
As drought conditions lingered there, some areas that needed that moisture unfortunately missed out when an active severe weather pattern brought moisture to parts of the southern to central Plains later in month. Of course, in an ideal world that moisture would come in without severe weather, but that wasn’t the case as large hail fell with damaging winds and tornadoes later in April. Large hail left behind crop damage to winter wheat in southern to central Kansas as several hail reports came in at more than 2 inches in diameter.
Another concern with the winter wheat was late season cold that left concerns for freeze injury, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
April did bring a mixture of temperatures with some cooler days, but some record-breaking heat too. One case of this was in McCook, Nebraska, and Hill City, Kansas, where the temperature dipped to 22 degrees Fahrenheit on April 19. In those same locations, temperatures soared to 93 degrees just a few days later on April 21, which marked record highs for that day.
Looking ahead to May, above normal temperatures are forecast for the western parts of Nebraska and Kansas along with western and central Oklahoma, southern Texas and western Texas.
Meanwhile in May, we are expecting above average precipitation for southern and central Texas with precipitation below average for much of Nebraska and north central Kansas.
Through July, above average temperatures are forecast for all of the southern to central Plains. West-central Texas could pick up above average precipitation during those three months, with below normal precipitation expected for western and central Nebraska stretching into northern and central Kansas.
I’m always keeping an eye to the sky (and the weather patterns), so watch for next month’s update.
Editor’s note: Regina Bird grew up on a farm near Belleville, Kansas. The views from the farm helped spur her interest in weather. Following high school, she went on to get a bachelor’s degree in meteorology from the University of Kansas. She worked as a television meteorologist for nine years in Nebraska. Follow her on X (formerly known as Twitter): @ReginaBirdWX.
