A cold late winter gave rise to a cool, dry early spring, as April showers failed to materialize across much of Powder River County.
Broadus received a scant 0.13” of moisture in April, which made for the second driest April on record, only eclipsed by the 0.10” total in 1952. The April rains, or lack thereof, stand in stark contrast to the 3.15” of moisture recorded in April of last year.
The whole of Southeastern Montana was spared from the dry April, as storms went around to the north and south of Broadus, with healthy storms hugging the Bighorns and hitting portions of southern and western Powder River County, while a separate storm on April 19th that dropped nearly an inch of precipitation on Miles City also hit northern portions of our area.
The Biddle 8 miles SW station received a scant 0.18” of moisture in April, compared to a normal 1.80”. That station had a half inch of snow in the month. Their high for the month was 84, on April 11th, the low was 16, on April 5th.
The Moorhead 9 miles NE station had 0.45” of precip in April, with 0.33” falling on April 19th. Their normal moisture for the month is 1.43”. The station received snow twice, with less than a half inch falling April 4th and April 20th. Their high for the month was 87, on April 11th, the low was 18, recorded April 16th and again on the 23rd.
The Bradshaw Creek RAWS station near Moorhead received 0.88” of moisture in April.
The Sonnette 7 miles SW station had just over seven inches of snow, between the 18th and 21st of April, contributing over ¾” of moisture in total, as 0.98” of moisture was recorded at the station in April. The station has an average April monthly precipitation total of 1.85”. The hottest day in April at that station was 82, while the mercury fell as low as 15, on April 5th. Snow was recorded at that station through the first week of April, leftover from March storms, where snow depth had been measured at up to 11” deep in Mid-March.
At the Fort Howes RAWS station, winds as high as 43 mph were recorded April 19th, when 0.58” of moisture fell on the station. 0.70” was received in total, as the temperature climbed as high as 86 on April 11th, and fell to as low as 16, on April 6th.
The Volborg station had 0.44” of precip in the month, recorded on April 19th.
The Powderville 8 miles NNE station received trace amounts of snow on April 4th and 5th, and again on the 21st. That station was the driest in the area, with 0.12” of precipitation in April. That compares to a normal 1.64”. That station also had the extremes for temperature, topping out at 89 on April 11th, and dipping down to 13, on April 23rd.
Overall, each one of the outlying weather stations recorded average monthly temperatures between 1.3 and 4 degrees below normal.
Broadus has thus far received 2.19” of moisture from Jan 1 to May 1. The normal accumulation over that time period is 3.58”. The lowest was 1981, with 0.81”, the highest 2018, with 6.58”.
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