April 2006 Weather Review - National Weather Service Forecast Office

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April 2006 Weather in Review

The highlights of April 2006 were several severe weather and thunderstorm events on the 18th; 19th; 20th; 21st; 25th; and 28th/29th. The April 20th, 21st, and 28th/29th events brought not only severe weather, also more widespread rains, to all except the extreme south and southwest parts of South Central Texas. The rains in the last half of April provided some short term relief from the drought. Near and south of an Eagle Pass to south of San Antonio to Cuero line, drier conditions continued, while the heaviest of the April rains fell again to the north of San Antonio. April 2006 was one of the warmer Aprils of record. A record monthly high of 100 was observed at Austin Bergstrom the 17th; plus numerous other daily record highs in early April and from the 15th to the 18th. Del Rio and San Antonio also reached the century mark; however, these locations have reached the century mark in past Aprils.
Some key statistics on the warmth in April 2006 is listed below.
APRIL 2006 WAS ONE OF THE WARMEST APRILS OF RECORD...NOT ONLY FROM AN AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE RANKING...ALSO AMONG THE WARMEST AVERAGE APRIL DAILY HIGHS AND LOWS. AT AUSTIN AND SAN ANTONIO APRIL 2006 WAS THE WARMEST SINCE 1967 AND 1972....AND THE WARMEST SINCE 2002 AND 1967 AT DEL RIO. AT SAN ANTONIO APRIL 2006 WAS THE WARMEST OF ALL APRILS...2ND WARMEST AT DEL RIO...4TH WARMEST AT AUSTIN BERGSTROM...AND 3RD WARMEST AT AUSTIN MABRY. THE WARMEST APRIL MONTHLY TEMPERATURES FOR AUSTIN...DEL RIO AND SAN ANTONIO FOLLOWS. AUSTIN BERGSTROM AUSTIN MABRY 1. APRIL 1967 76.1 1. APRIL 1967 75.9 2. APRIL 1972 74.4 1. APRIL 1893 75.8 3. APRIL 1954 74.3 2. APRIL 2006 74.9 4. APRIL 2006 74.2 3. APRIL 1925 74.4 DEL RIO SAN ANTONIO 1. APRIL 2002 77.0 1. APRIL 2006 76.7 2. APRIL 2006 76.7 2. APRIL 1967 76.6 3. APRIL 1967 76.1 3. APRIL 1963 74.6 4. APRIL 1925 76.0 4. APRIL 1893 74.3 4. APRIL 1963 76.0 THE 100 DEGREE DAYS IN APRIL 2006 WERE BETWEEN 1 TO 3 MONTHS AHEAD OF AVERAGE. THIS IS NOT UNUSUAL AFTER MILD WINTERS AND DURING DROUGHTS OVER SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS. APRIL DAYS AND PATTERNS LIKE THIS SINCE 1970 CAME IN APRIL 1971, 1984, 1996, AND 2000. THE FIRST NEAR 100 DEGREE DAYS OF 2006 WERE AS FOLLOWS: Location Date Average First 100 Degree Day Austin Mabry 99 on April 17th July 12th Austin Bergstrom 100 on April 17th July 11th Del Rio 101 on April 16th May 27th San Antonio 100 on April 18th July 1st A NUMBER OF RECORD DAILY HIGHS CAME IN THE MONTH. APRIL 2... AUSTIN BERGSTROM 91 IN 2006 BROKE OLD RECORD OF 89 IN 1982 APRIL 6... DEL RIO 95 IN 2006 TIED HIGH OF 95 SET IN 1911 APRIL 7... AUSTIN BERGSTROM 95 IN 2006 TIED HIGH OF 95 SET IN 1972 SAN ANTONIO 99 IN 2006 BROKE OLD RECORD OF 98 IN 1948 APRIL 15... AUSTIN BERGSTROM 92 IN 2006 BROKE OLD RECORD OF 91 IN 1961 SAN ANTONIO 95 IN 2006 BROKE OLD RECORD OF 94 SET IN 1894 APRIL 16... AUSTIN BERGSTROM 95 IN 2006 BROKE OLD RECORD OF 90 SET IN 2003 AUSTIN MABRY 95 TIED HIGH OF 95 SET IN 1920 DEL RIO 101 BROKE OLD RECORD OF 96 SET IN 1987 APRIL 17... AUSTIN BERGSTROM 100 IN 2006 BROKE OLD RECORD OF 90 SET IN 1987 AND BROKE PREVIOUS APRIL HIGH OF 99 SET APRIL 19...1951 AUSTIN MABRY 99 BROKE OLD RECORD OF 97 SET IN 1920 DEL RIO 101 TIED OLD RECORD OF 101 IN 1920 APRIL 18... AUSTIN BERGSTROM 99 IN 2006 BROKE OLD RECORD OF 90 SET IN 1984 AUSTIN MABRY 98 TIED HIGH OF 98 SET IN 1925 DEL RIO 104 BROKE OLD RECORD OF 98 SET IN 1993 SAN ANTONIO 100 BROKE OLD RECORD OF 97 SET IN 1996

April 2006 began warm from the start. On the 7th dry west and northwest winds caused highs to jump into the 90s. Conditions cooled off the quickly 8th, with highs 15 to 20 degrees cooler than the 7th; however this did not last too long as a warmup followed in the week of the 9th to 15th. The weekend of the 15th and 16th began a series of very warm days that sent highs to near 100 and broke many daily record highs.
The high of 100 at Austin Bergstrom broke the record for April 17th and the record high for the month of April, previously of 99 on April 19, 1951. The high of 99 at Austin Mabry was a record for April 17th and tied the April Monthly high of 99 reached April 2, 1939. The high of 100 at San Antonio April 18th was a record for the date and 1 degree short of the April high of 101 set April 19, 1996. Del Rio topped out at 104 on the 18th, and reached the 100 degree mark with 101 on April 16th.
Several notable severe weather events came to the area, mainly in the 2nd half of the month. Widespread severe weather came April 20th and the 28th/29th, with strong winds, damaging hail, and funnel clouds. On the evening of April 18th and 19th stormy weather came primarily to the north and west part of the area. On the morning of the 20th, thunderstorms began in Kinney and Val Verde County between 8 and 9 am. The storms spread east across South Central Texas later in the morning and afternoon on the 20th, causing hail and wind reports. Funnel clouds were also sighted in the afternoon of April 20th. Hail up to near 4 inches in size fell near San Marcos between 5 and 530 pm on April 20th. After midnight on the 20th, in the predawn hours of April 21st, an area of scattered thunderstorms came across the area, bringing widespread rains. See Local Storm Reports for April 20th. Another severe weather event came the afternoon of the 25th to the southwest to south of San Antonio. After the thunderstorms broke up in the evening, they returned arond 11 pm to midnight from near New Braunfels and extending east, northeast toward Ausitn, Lexington and La Grange. The last severe weather event came the afternoon of the 28th, with severe weather beginning in the Del Rio area in the afternoon, where large hail and 60 mph wind gusts were observed. The severe storms then tracked across parts of Edwards, Real, Bandera, Kerr, and Gillespie Counties. The storms organized into a line of thunderstorms the evening of the 28th and moved east across the rest of South Central Texas after midnight on the 29th. Wind gusts near 35 to near 55 mph was reported with these thunderstorms, along with some hail, and locally heavy rains. See Local Storm Reports for April 28th and 29th.
Like March 2006, April 2006 rainfall was the greatest over the northern part of the area, with the southern part of the area still below normal. April 2006 has been the 13th month in a row of below normal rain at San Antonio. The last month with above normal rain was March 2005 with 2.00 inches. April 2006 was wetter than usual at Austin Mabry. At Del Rio, April 2006 was drier than normal and the 6th month in a row for below average rainfall. In fact, the November to April Rain at Del Rio was the 2nd driest of record at Del Rio, with only 1.10 inches.
April 2006 rain at Austin, Del Rio and San Antonio follows:
AUSTIN MABRY........ 2.89 INCHES...0.38 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL AUSTIN BERGSTROM.... 2.50 INCHES...0.13 INCHES BELOW NORMAL DEL RIO............. 0.59 INCHES...1.12 INCHES BELOW NORMAL SAN ANTONIO......... 1.40 INCHES...1.20 INCHES BELOW NORMAL

In the drought that South Central Texas has experienced since April of 2005, some of the driest May 1st to April 30th periods of record has been observed.
THE RAINFALL PERSPECTIVE...FROM A MAY 1ST TO APRIL 30TH VIEW... CONTINUES TO SHOW DRY CONDITIONS FROM APRIL 1ST...2005 THROUGH APRIL 30th...2006. FROM MAY 1ST...2005 TO APRIL 30TH...2006 SAN ANTONIO HAD ONLY 13.66 INCHES OF RAIN. OF THE DRIEST MAY 1ST TO APRIL 30TH PERIODS SINCE 1885...THIS WAS THE DRIEST IN 121 YEARS. THE DRIEST CALENDAR YEAR AT SAN ANTONIO WAS 10.11 INCHES IN 1917...AND THE DRIEST CONSECUTIVE 12 MONTH PERIOD WAS 9.26 INCHES FROM FEBRUARY 1...1917 TO JANUARY 31...1918. THE 10 DRIEST MAY 1ST TO APRIL 30TH TIME PERIODS AT SAN ANTONIO FOLLOWS. SAN ANTONIO INTL AP (KSAT) EXTREMES LOWEST TOTAL PRECIPITATION (INCHES) DAYS: 5/1 - 4/30 LENGTH OF PERIOD: 365 DAYS YEARS: 1885-2006 RANK VALUE ENDING DATE 1 13.66 4/30/2006 2 14.16 4/30/1939 3 15.27 4/30/1956 4 15.28 4/30/1898 5 15.88 4/30/1925 6 16.02 4/30/1918 7 16.15 4/30/1954 8 16.51 4/30/1955 9 17.00 4/30/1916 10 17.11 4/30/1967 ENDING DATE IS THE LAST DAY OF THE 365-DAY PERIOD. AT AUSTIN BERGSTROM ONLY 18.71 INCHES OF RAIN FELL FROM MAY 1ST...2005 TO APRIL 30TH...2006. THIS WAS THE 7TH DRIEST IN THE MAY 1ST TO APRIL 30TH PERIODS SINCE 1943. THE 10 DRIEST MAY 1ST TO APRIL 30TH TIME PERIODS AT AUSTIN BERGSTROM FOLLOWS. AUSTIN-BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL (KAUS) EXTREMES LOWEST TOTAL PRECIPITATION (INCHES) DAYS: 5/1 - 4/30 LENGTH OF PERIOD: 365 DAYS YEARS: 1947-2006 RANK VALUE ENDING DATE 1 10.87 4/30/1948 2 14.01 4/30/1955 3 14.95 4/30/1978 4 17.48 4/30/1956 5 17.95 4/30/1964 6 18.47 4/30/1971 7 18.71 4/30/2006 8 21.53 4/30/1994 9 22.04 4/30/1990 10 22.82 4/30/1949 ENDING DATE IS THE LAST DAY OF THE 365-DAY PERIOD. AT AUSTIN MABRY...25.97 INCHES OF RAIN WAS OBSERVED FROM MAY 1ST...2005 TO APRIL 30...2006. THIS WAS THE 31ST DRIEST MAY 1ST TO APRIL 30TH PERIOD FOR AUSTIN MABRY SINCE 1856. THE 10 DRIEST MAY 1ST TO APRIL 30TH PERIODS AT AUSTIN MABRY FOLLOWS. AUSTIN MABRY/MUELLER MUNICIPAL AP (KATT) EXTREMES LOWEST TOTAL PRECIPITATION (INCHES) DAYS: 5/1 - 4/30 LENGTH OF PERIOD: 365 DAYS YEARS: 1856-2006 RANK VALUE ENDING DATE 1 14.44 4/30/1978 2 15.87 4/30/1955 3 17.59 4/30/1948 4 17.61 4/30/1964 5 17.70 4/30/1895 6 18.67 4/30/1948 7 19.08 4/30/1857 7 19.08 4/30/1956 9 19.47 4/30/1907 10 19.50 4/30/1913 ENDING DATE IS THE LAST DAY OF THE 365-DAY PERIOD. MAY 1, 2005 TO APRIL 30, 2006 RAINFALL AT DEL RIO OF 17.85 INCHES IS RIGHT NEAR THE MIDDLE OF ALL MAY 1ST TO APRIL 30TH PERIODS OF RECORD. THE 10 DRIEST MAY 1ST TO APRIL 30TH PERIODS AT DEL RIO FOLLOWS. DEL RIO INTERNATIONAL AP (KDRT) EXTREMES LOWEST TOTAL PRECIPITATION (INCHES) DAYS: 5/1 - 4/30 LENGTH OF PERIOD: 365 DAYS YEARS: 1906-2006 RANK VALUE ENDING DATE 1 5.78 4/30/1918 2 7.77 4/30/1953 3 8.07 4/30/1934 4 8.51 4/30/2002 5 8.65 4/30/1939 6 9.38 4/30/1980 7 9.39 4/30/1952 8 10.41 4/30/1928 9 10.42 4/30/1912 10 10.72 4/30/1963 ENDING DATE IS THE LAST DAY OF THE 365-DAY PERIOD.

April 2006 Weather in Review
AUSTIN... Austin/Bergstrom International Airport: The average April temperature was 74.2 degrees, 5.3 degrees above normal. Apirl 2006 was the 4th warmest April of record at Austin Bergstrom. The average high was 87.2 and the average low was 61.2. Heating degree days 3 and Cooling degree days 289. The highest temperature was 100 on the 17th. This was not only a record high for April 17th, also a new record April High. The lowest was 42 on the 9th. Highest wind gust was 44 mph from the northwest with thunderstorms on the 21st. Rainfall was 2.50 inches, 0.13 inches below normal. Rainfall for 2006 from January 1st to April 30th, 2006... 7.29 inches or 1.93 inches below normal. Austin Mabry: The average April temperature was 74.9 degrees, 6.6 degrees above normal. This was the 3rd warmest April of record. The average high was 86.2 and the average low was 63.5. Heating degree days 0 and Cooling degree days 304. The highest temperature reached 99 on the 17th, and the lowest was 50 on the 9th. Highest wind gust was 33 mph from the southeast on the 19th with thunderstorms in the area. Rainfall was 2.89 inches, 0.38 inches above normal. Rainfall for 2006 from January 1st to April 30th, 2006... 13.12 inches, 4.59 inches above normal. Go to Austin daily data for April 2006.
DEL RIO... The average April temperature was 76.7 degrees, 6.1 degrees above normal. This was the 2nd warmest April of record. The average high was 88.9, and the average low was 64.5. Heating degree days 0 and cooling degree days 356. The highest temperature reached 104 on the 18th. The lowest was 48 on the 9th. The highest wind gust was 53 mph from the west, northwest with thunderstorms on the 28th. Rainfall was 0.59 inches, 1.12 inches below normal. Rainfall for 2006 from January 1st to April 30th, 2006... 1.04 inches or 3.16 inches below normal. Go to Del Rio daily data for April 2006.
SAN ANTONIO... The average April temperature was 76.7 degrees, 8.1 degrees above normal. April 2006 was the warmest April of record. The average high was 88.8, and average low was 64.6. Heating degree days 0 and cooling degree days 359. The highest temperature reached 100 on the 18th. The lowest was 49 on the 9th. Highest wind gust was 40 mph from the north with thunderstorms in the early morning of the 29th. Rainfall was 1.40 inches, 1.20 inches below normal. Rainfall for from January 1st to April 30th, 2006... 3.73 inches or 4.17 inches below normal. Go to San Antonio daily data for April 2006.

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