MARCH IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR...

Lo and behold it's April. Despite all the chaos of the virus the month flew by for me. Part of the reason (I'm sure) is the fact it was a warm month with plenty of diverse and interesting weather events. Here's the breakdown for March in some of the bigger cities in my area from the NWS in the Quad Cities.

Just look at the temperatures in the graphic above. Readings 2.4 to as much as 5.3 degrees above normal. Those are big departures and in line with trends over the previous 3 months (December- February), which were also quite mild.

March temperatures for the Midwest as a whole from the Midwest Regional Climate Center.

These are the associated temperature departures. The entire Midwest was above normal by several degrees.

Midwest precipitation was also fairly generous except in my far southern counties. North of HWY 34 my area ended up about 1/2 to 1.00" above normal. However, there were pockets where the surplus exceeded 2 inches.

Here are the precipitation departures. Very dry conditions were found up in the Dakotas and NW Minnesota.

Considering the warmth there was some snow but in general it was not a snowy month for most. Davenport with 5.1 inches saw the most of the major reporting stations in my area.

Central Illinois was about the only area to see near to above normal snowfall in March.

Going forward most of you are no doubt ready for spring warmth and no snowflakes for months to come. The April outlooks from NOAA appear positive in that respect with near to above normal temperatures indicated over the entire Midwest. However, I never say never when it comes to snowflakes until at least mid-April.

This is the April Precipitation outlook.

Here's the April, May, and June temperature outlooks.

The precipitation outlook for the same period

If the climate folks at NOAA are reading the cards right summer starts out warm and on the wet side. I would be okay with that.

The next chance for rain around my area arrives Thursday night through Friday night. The 12K NAM shows this for amounts.

The 3K NAM has this.

The EURO

The GFS

In advance of the rain, Thursday will be a warmer day. With increasing clouds as the day lengthens, most highs will reach into the range of 60-65. Roll weather and have a virus free day! TS