Climatological Report (Monthly)
Issued by NWS Buffalo, NY
Issued by NWS Buffalo, NY
994
CXUS51 KBUF 091517
CLMBUF
CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
816 AM EDT FRI MAY 01 2026
...................................
...THE BUFFALO NY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL 2026...
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1991 TO 2020
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1871 TO 2026
WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S
VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S)
NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
HIGH 94 04/28/1990
LOW 5 04/01/1923
HIGHEST 79 04/18 80 04/24
LOWEST 22 04/08 23 04/08
AVG. MAXIMUM 60.2 54.7 5.5 57.4
AVG. MINIMUM 40.0 36.5 3.5 37.9
MEAN 50.1 45.6 4.5 47.7
DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MAX <= 32 0 0.5 -0.5 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 4 9.3 -5.3 7
DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 0
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 6.38 2017
MINIMUM 0.59 1915
TOTALS 5.58 3.37 2.21 2.86
DAYS >= .01 20 15
DAYS >= .10 11 8
DAYS >= .50 5 2
DAYS >= 1.00 1 0
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 1.39 03/31 TO 04/01 1.12 04/02 TO 04/03
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
TOTAL 15.7 1885
TOTALS T 2.5 -2.5 0.1
SINCE 7/1 92.5 95.4 -2.9
SNOWDEPTH AVG. 0 0
DAYS >= 1.0 0 0.8 -0.8 0
DAYS >= 0.1 0 1
GREATEST
SNOW DEPTH 0 0 MM
24 HR TOTAL MM
DEGREE DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 440 584 -144 515
SINCE 7/1 6063 6159 -96 MM
COOLING TOTAL 0 2 -2 2
SINCE 1/1 0 2 -2 MM
................................................................
WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 10.8
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 33/250
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 51/240 DATE 04/14
SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 3
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 9
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 18
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 71
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM 2 MIXED PRECIP 0
HEAVY RAIN 7 RAIN 11
LIGHT RAIN 22 FREEZING RAIN 0
LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 2
HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 0
LIGHT SNOW 5 SLEET 0
FOG 17 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 2
HAZE 8
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
&&
... UNSETTLED AND WARM APRIL ...
A WET, BUT WARM MONTH OF APRIL OCCURRED FOR WESTERN NEW YORK TO
START THE BEGINNING OF THE GROWING SEASON. FOLLOWING A COLD WINTER,
PLEASANT DAYS IN THE 60S AND 70S WERE FREQUENT THROUGHOUT THE MONTH.
HOWEVER, UNSETTLED WEATHER WAS A MAINSTAY AS WELL WITH DAY-TO-DAY
PRECIPITATION EVENTS COMMON, INTERTWINED WITH SEVERAL DAYS OF
SOAKING RAIN THAT WERE SPREAD EVENLY THROUGHOUT THE MONTH.
THE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL AVERAGED 50.1F. THIS PLACES
APRIL AS 8TH WARMEST ON RECORD AND WARMEST APRIL SINCE 2017. THERE
WERE 10 DAYS THAT REACHED 70F OR WARMER, TYING WITH 1985 FOR
GREATEST IN CLIMATOLOGIC HISTORY. ON THE OTHER HAND, 4 DAYS REACHING
32F OR LOWER IS 6 DAYS LESS THAN THE AIRPORT MEAN. THE WARMEST
STRETCH FOR THE MONTH OCCURRED FROM APRIL 13TH TO THE 18TH WHEN THE
DAILY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AVERAGED 16 DEGREES ABOVE THE DAILY
NORMAL. THERE WAS ONE RECORD WARM MINIMUM TEMPERATURE SET, THIS
OCCURRING ON THE 14TH WITH A MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 54F BREAKING
THE FORMER RECORD OF 52F SET BACK IN 1955.
PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH TOTALED 5.58 INCHES WHICH PLACES APRIL
AS THE 6TH WETTEST MONTH ON RECORD. THIS ALSO IS THE WETTEST MONTH
SINCE 2017. COMBINED WITH A WET MARCH, THE MARCH- APRIL TOTAL
PRECIPITATION OF 11.91 INCHES MARKS THE WETTEST START TO
METEOROLOGICAL SPRING ON RECORD. TRUE TO THE NORM, SNOW OCCURRED IN
APRIL, WITH JUST A TRACE OF SNOW MEASURED ON 5 DAYS THROUGH THE
MONTH, THE LAST OCCURRENCE ON APRIL 20TH. THE 20 DAYS WITH MEASURED
PRECIPITATION IS TIED FOR SECOND GREATEST ON RECORD, TRAILING ONLY
1961 WHICH FEATURED 22 SUCH DAYS. HEAVIER PRECIPITATION WITHIN THE
MONTH WAS SPREAD OUT JUST ENOUGH TO LIMIT ANY WIDESPREAD FLOODING.
RIVER FLOODING AND LOW-LYING PONDING OF WATER STARTED THE MONTH,
THIS FROM A WET END TO MARCH, WITH CONDITIONS IMPROVING THROUGH THE
FIRST TWO DAYS OF THE MONTH. OVER TWO INCHES OF RAIN FELL OVER A 5-
DAY STRETCH FROM THE 15TH TO THE 19TH, BUT WAS SPREAD OUT ENOUGH TO
AGAIN LIMIT FLOODING, WITH JUST RISES TO NEAR BANKFULL ON AREA
CREEKS AND RIVERS. THE WETTEST DAY OF THE MONTH OCCURRED ON THE 25TH
WITH 1.08 INCHES OF RAIN MEASURED AT THE AIRPORT.
THOUGH A WARM AND WET MONTH, ACTIVE WEATHER WAS AT A MINIMUM THROUGH
THE MONTH WITH MUCH OF THE PRECIPITATION STRATIFORM, OR WEAKLY
CONVECTIVE. THE ONE DAY WITH SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OCCURRED DURING THE
EVENING HOURS OF THE 15TH. SEVERAL STORMS ALONG A LAKE BREEZE
BOUNDARY ON THE 15TH BLOSSOMED INTO DAMAGING THUNDERSTORMS, DOWNING
TREES AND WIRES ACROSS SOUTHWESTERN NEW YORK STATE. A COUPLE OF
BRIEF TORNADOES SPUN-UP WITHIN THESE CLUSTERS OF STORMS, WITH THESE
TORNADOES OCCURRING WITHIN MACHIAS AND NORTHEAST OF FRANKLINVILLE.
BOTH TORNADOES HAD A PATH LENGTH OF LESS THAN A QUARTER OF A MILE.
THERE WERE TWO TWO-DAY DRY PERIODS IN THE MONTH, THESE OCCURRING ON
THE 22ND-23RD AS WELL AS THE 26TH-27TH.
ICE REMAINED ON LAKE ERIE THROUGH THE 10TH OF THE MONTH, WITH THE
WATER TEMPERATURE QUICKLY CLIMBING TO 46 DEGREES BY THE END OF THE
MONTH. THIS 46F READING ON THE 30TH OF THE MONTH IS 7 DEGREES
GREATER THAN NORMAL. WINDS AVERAGED NORMAL FOR THE MONTH AND THE
STRONGEST GUST, 51 MPH ON THE 14TH OCCURRED IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON
BEHIND A COLD FRONT PASSAGE.
IN ALL, A WARM AND WET MONTH, BUT WITHOUT MANY SEVERE STORMS.
&&
THOMAS
$$