April Weather

The month of April began as a rather bleak looking affair, with the continued drought which had persisted through 2020 and 2021 carrying on into the spring of 2022. As of the beginning of April, the rainfall total from January 1st to April 1st sat at 61% of normal. By the end of the month, the total was well above average, and the outlook looked a lot brighter and greener.

Three major weather events punctuated the month of April, bringing widespread precipitation to the area. The most recent, on Friday, April 29th, brought nearly 2” of moisture to Broadus in the form of a nice, sustained rain. That storm stood in contrast to the two previous snowstorms with high winds and heavy snowfall. The high winds in particular made measurement of moisture particularly difficult. For instance, in the first major snowstorm significant ice and drifting snow paralyzed travelers as the roads shut down and drifted over, yet the weather station at the courthouse measured a measly 0.07” of precipitation.

Even with the questionable totals, Broadus received 3.15” of measured precip in April, compared to a normal April total of 1.77”. Of that total, 1.89” fell in the storm centered around April 29th.

Looking around the area, the Biddle 8 miles SW station had 3.24” of moisture in April, compared to a normal 1.80”, with 1.37” falling in the most recent storm.

The Moorhead 9 miles NE station had 2.94” on the month, compared to 1.43” average. 1.58” of that was measured between April 28 through the 30th.

The Sonnette 7 miles SW station had 31.2” of measured snowfall in April, compared to a normal of 3.4”. That station had 4.35” of total moisture for the month, compared to a 1.85” average, with 1.93” dropping around the April 29 storm.

The Volborg station had 4.44” of total moisture in April, with 1.31” measured on the 29th and 30th.

The Powderville 8 miles NNE station had 3.56” of total precip in April, compared to a 1.64” average. They received 1.08” between the 28th and 30th.

In speaking with Mike Riley at the Broadus FSA office, he had received notices of loss of livestock from 16 producers as of Monday, as a result of the April storms. Producers have 30 days to file from the date the loss becomes apparent, so the current numbers may not reflect the total losses, as producers become aware of livestock deaths when roads dry out and more country becomes accessible. Yet again, that number may not grow significantly, and we may have made it through the storms without a huge amount of loss, and with the possibility of a good year in the works. Case in point: by May 1st, the moisture total for the year in Broadus stood at 4.24”, or 2/3 of an inch above the 3.58” long term average for the Jan 1-May 1 time period.