Chalk up another rare occurrence for spring 2012

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Spring 2012 in the central Indiana area has recorded another rare occurrence with the month of March being warmer than April.

The average temperature for April ended on Monday about two degrees cooler than March, the National Weather Service reported.

Typically the average monthly temperature increases nearly 11 degrees from March to April.

This is only the second time since 1872 that March has been warmer than April. The only other occurrence came in 1907.

It is interesting to note that both events were caused by either a record warm or record cold month. In 1907, March was followed by the coldest April on record. This year a record-warm March was followed by an April with near normal temperatures.

The record warmth of March resulted from an upper level ridge that remained over the Indianapolis area from March 14-22.

In April an upper level trough dominated the Indianapolis area weather, producing cooler temperatures for much of the second half of the month.

April did produce a normal rainfall total for the month at 3.36 inches. Typically, the central Indiana area gets 3.81 inches of rain for April.

May, which started off with a bang with a series of thunderstorms on Tuesday, is annually the wettest month in central Indiana with average rainfall of 5.05 inches.

Hoosiers can look ahead to average high temperatures of 72.8 degrees in May, with average lows of 52.6.

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