By Chuck Otte
Geary County Agriculural Extension Agent
During April there were many comments heard locally about how cold it was for the month, how late spring was in arriving. While these comments seemed to be commonly heard, the weather data for April shows a different story.
The average daily high for April was 66.3, one half of a degree above normal. The average overnight low was 43.5, 0.9 degree above normal giving us a monthly mean temperature of 54.9 nearly 3/4 of a degree above normal. The highest temperature for the month was 89 on the 12th. The lowest temperature for April was 26 on the 9th. The last low temperature of 32 degrees or colder was the morning low of 31 on the 14th. April 15th is our long time average last frost date so assuming no May frosts, our last frost was as expected.
There was one temperature record tied during the month and one set. The high of 89 on the 12th tied the record high for that date. The record was first set in 2014. The overnight low of 70 on the 22nd set a new record high low temperature. The previous record was 68 set in 1989. The hottest April was in 1955 when we had a monthly mean temperature of 63.2. The coldest April was in 1983 when we had a very chilly monthly mean temperature of 45.9. Looking at the average temperature for January through August, 2022 was 41.2 degrees, 0.8 degree above average. Every month in 2022 has had average high, low and mean monthly temperatures above the 30 year average for each month.
April typically sees an increase in rainfall as we head into our wettest time of the year, but that didn’t pan out for 2022. A smattering of precipitation events was all that could be managed. Average April rainfall is 3.15 inches. Milford Lake received 1.27 inches and Junction City 0.94 inches. Had it not been for the Friday night, April 29th storms that rolled across the state, we would have had the driest April on record. April 1989 was the driest with only 0.36 inches of rain. The wettest April was in 1944 when we received 12.59 inches of rain. Year to date we continue to lag the long term average. Through the first four months of the year we have received 4.63 inches of precipitation. Long term average is 6.98 inches meaning that we are at 2/3 of normal precipitation. While long term average snowfall for April is 3/4 of an inch, there was no snow recorded in April.
May continues the transition from spring towards summer. Average daily highs on May Day are 70 and hit 80 by the end of the month. Overnight lows increase from 49 on May 1 to 60 on May 31. Over the last 30 years May has been our wettest month of the year with average rainfall of 5.14 inches. Nine years, since 1951, the region has seen a frost in May. The latest frost on record was May 14, in 1953 but hard freezes May 10 - 12 in both 1980 and 1981 likely did far more damage to the state’s wheat crop!