Fabled April showers fail to materialize here

April has a reputation for being an especially rainy month, with its showers said to bring May flowers, but Mother Nature didn’t get the memo where Mount Airy was concerned.

Sure, some precipitation did occur last month, but the total was well below normal, according to the latest statistical report from F.G. Doggett Water Plant, the city’s official weather-monitoring station.

April produced 2.77 inches, compared to the all-time local average of 3.95 inches for Mount Airy, where climactic records have been kept since 1924.

And a good chunk of last month’s output was recorded for a single day, April 12, when 1.18 inches of rain fell. In all, measurable amounts were logged on just nine of April’s 30 days.

At the end of that period, Mount Airy had received a total of 16.56 inches for 2024 as a whole, only slightly — 1.54 inches and 10.3 % — above normal for the first four months of the year.

Fog was observed on four days during April.

Warmer than usual

Also noted in the monthly weather breakdown from the water plant was a warming trend in April.

This was highlighted by the average temperature for the month, 57.9 degrees, being more than two degrees higher than April’s all-time local average of 55.8 degrees.

Its temperature extremes seemed to cancel each other out to some extent.

A pair of 29-degree mercury readings on April 7-8, representing the low for the month, were offset by two 86-degree days on April 16 and 19 which took high-temperature honors.

Frost was noted on two days last month.