April 2012 Climate Report

April 2012 Climate Report for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

April 2012 Highlights

New Records for April 2012

San Juan

Date	New Record	Old Record
April 2012	Ninth warmest April on record with an average temperature of 80.5°F	April 1984 ended as the warmest April on record with an average temperature of 84.0°F
2012	2012 represents the seventh wettest start to a year with a total of 20.27".	1915 represents the wettest start to a year with a total of 22.80".

Saint Thomas

Date	New Record	Old Record
April 2012	Eleventh coolest April on record with an average temperature of 79.0°F	April 1955 ended as the coolest April on record with an average temperature of 77.3°F
2012	2012 represents the tenth wettest start to a year with a total of 9.55".	2003 represents the wettest start to a year with a total of 14.90".

A generally fair and mainly dry weather pattern prevailed across the forecast area the first week of the month with just light morning showers across the windward side of the local islands and limited afternoon convection across the interior and western portions of Puerto Rico. By mid-month, shower intensity and coverage increased across the local islands due to a cold front which combined with a mid to upper level trough. By the end of the month, another round of fair weather conditions prevailed across the local islands with unseasonably warm temperatures between April 22^nd and April 24^th.

Rainfall Accumulations Year to Date (YTD)

Figure A – Graphical Display of April 2012 precipitation across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands derived from a combination of rain gage and radar data.

Figure B – Graphical Display of YTD precipitation across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands derived from a combination of rain gage and radar data

Sector

Rain YTD

Normal YTD

PON YTD

X North Coast

21.23

13.80

154%

X South Coast

10.93

4.12

265%

X North Slopes

18.03

12.89

140%

X South Slopes

14.47

9.32

155%

X East Interior

26.46

16.10

164%

X West Interior

25.99

15.58

164%

Puerto Rico Average

19.44

11.97

162%

X U.S. Virgin Islands

9.03

7.85

115%

PON= Percent of Normal YTD= Year to Date

Figure C – Display of YTD precipitation by climate sectors derived from rain gage data.

April Historical Statistics

Highest April Temperatures on record:

San Juan	Saint Thomas	Saint Croix
97°F April 17th,1983	96°F April 4th, 1996	93°F April 30th, 1973
95°F April 24th,1983	96°F April 29th, 1994	93°F April 21st, 1961
95°F April 22nd,1983	96°F April 30th, 1992	92°F April 19th, 1973

Lowest April Temperatures on record:

San Juan	Saint Thomas	Saint Croix
64°F April 12th,1968	62°F April 10th, 1984	62°F April 3rd 1982
65°F April 8th,1965	62°F April 11th, 1972	62°F April 2nd 1982
65°F April 25th,1963	65°F April 9th, 1984	62°F April 15th, 1974

Wettest Aprils:

San Juan	Saint Thomas	Saint Croix
15.00" 2005	11.20" 2005	8.53" 2003
13.17" 1915	9.07" 1983	8.24" 1986
10.37" 1988	6.66" 1978	5.38" 1952

Driest Aprils:

San Juan	Saint Thomas	Saint Croix
0.08" 1997	0.23" 1953	0.00" 1988
0.28" 1984	0.48" 1985	0.02" 1997
0.42" 1935	0.54" 2004	0.22" 1953

Decadal April Observations for San Juan, Puerto Rico

	2010-2012	2000’s	1990’s	1980’s	1970’s	1960’s
High	86.9°F	85.8°F	86.3°F	87.1°F	85.7°F	84.6°F
Low	74.5°F	73.5°F	73.3°F	73.3°F	73.7°F	71.5°F
Avg. T	80.2°F	79.6°F	79.8°F	80.2°F	79.7°F	78.1°F
Pcpn.	3.85"	6.32’’	2.90’’	4.71’’	3.50’’	3.55’’

Looking ahead toward the month of May

Average May Temperatures/Precipitation (NCDC 1981-2010 averages):

	San Juan	Saint Thomas	Saint Croix
High	87.5°F	87.6°F	86.7°F
Low	76.3°F	76.2°F	76.1°F
Avg. T	81.9°F	81.9°F	81.4°F
Pcpn.	5.90’’	3.06’’	4.15’’

Moon/Sun/Tide Data for the month of May 2012

Sunrise/sunset data, phase of the moon, as well as tide data can all be found by going to the climate portion of the National Weather Service San Juan Climate homepage and then clicking on the astronomical tab.

Click here to return to NWS San Juan Local Climate Web Page

Notable April 2012 High's	Notable April 2012 Low's
95°F Levittown April 25th	50°F Adjuntas AES April 20th
94°F Gurabo AES April 4th	54°F Cerro Maravilla April 11th

	Puerto Rico	Virgin Islands
Highest 24 hr Precip Total	4.23" Maricao April 10th	0.87" East End April 9th
Highest Weekly Rainfall Accum.	6.46" Adjuntas AES April 7th-13th	1.89" Charlotte Amalie April 7th-13th

	San Juan	Saint Thomas	Saint Croix
High	86.2°F	87.0°F	85.7°F
Low	74.4°F	74.3°F	74.2°F
Avg. T	80.3°F	80.6°F	80.0°F
Pcpn.	4.68’’	2.74’’	2.13’’

	San Juan	Saint Thomas	Saint Croix
High	86.3°F(+0.1°F)	83.6°F(-3.4°F)	85.0°F(-0.7°F)
Low	74.8°F(+0.4°F)	74.5°F(+0.2°F)	73.4°F(-0.8°F)
Avg. T	80.6°F(+0.3°F)	79.0°F(-1.6°F)	79.2°F(-0.8°F)
Pcpn.	5.30"(+0.62")	2.61" (-0.13")	1.60"(-0.53")

	San Juan	Saint Thomas	Saint Croix
High	92°F April 24th, and 12th	86°F April 28th, and 21st	88°F April 30th, and 29th
Low	71°F April 19th	71°F April 3rd	69°F April 19th, 18th, and 3rd

Sector	Rain YTD	Normal YTD	PON YTD

X North Coast	21.23	13.80	154%
X South Coast	10.93	4.12	265%
X North Slopes	18.03	12.89	140%
X South Slopes	14.47	9.32	155%
X East Interior	26.46	16.10	164%
X West Interior	25.99	15.58	164%
Puerto Rico Average	19.44	11.97	162%
X U.S. Virgin Islands	9.03	7.85	115%

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

San Juan

Saint Thomas

Saint Croix