Denver Climatological Preview - April 2024 |
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A Preview of Denver's April Weather - Something for Everyone
April marks a transition between winter and summer for most of the country but for Denver it is especially true as we can see a stunning variety of weather. The proverbial April showers are certainly a possibility for Denver. Snow? Tornadoes? Thunderstorms? You bet - all can happen! For good measure throw in a chance for hail and even dust storms and April gives every type of weather condition you could like - or hate.
The good news is that sunshine and warmer temperatures are usually in abundance as the normal highs during the month move up from 58 degrees on the first to 66 degrees on the 30th. It is not unusual to have a number of days well into the 70's and the low 80's.
We also see the normal lows move above freezing from 30 degrees at the start of the month to 37 degrees by the end.
Temperature extremes can hit both ends of the spectrum with a record low of 2 degrees below zero on April 2, 1975 and a record high of 90 degrees on April 30, 1992.
In terms of the extremes and severe weather we can see, at this time of year Denver can be hit from every direction with a wide variety of air masses.
Cold can be brought on when Arctic air invades from the north and that can then team up with Pacific storms to produce snow. Warmer temperatures and low humidity too can happen when warm, dry air from the desert southwest invade Colorado. Thunderstorms can be generated when warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico moves into the area.
For snow lovers, April still gives us a good chance of the white stuff for it is our fifth snowiest month averaging 6.8 inches. The snowiest April was in 1933 when we received 33.8 inches of snow during the month. Way back on April 22 - 23, 1885, Denver was hit with 23 inches of snow, the most for a 24 hour period in April.
We are also reminded that we live on the wide open plains as it is our windiest month with an average speed of 10 miles per hour from the south. Typically we will have two thunderstorms in April and there is always the chance of severe thunderstorms which historically can include hail, severe damaging winds and / or tornadoes.
April 2001 brought on a reminder of the potential for severe winter weather when on the 10th and 11th a storm produced blizzard like conditions and 10 inches of snow was dumped on the former Stapleton International Airport site. Across the metro area heavy snow was recorded including 18 inches in southeast Aurora with 5 foot drifts, 16 inches with 3 foot drifts in Parker, 10 inches in Lafayette, 9 in Westminster and 8 in Littleton. But, as is typical in Colorado, by the 12th the sun had come out and the snow melted away quickly.
April showers are also common as was seen in 2007 when we set a 24 hour rain record. Between April 23rd and 24th of that year, 2.1 inches of rainfall was recorded at DIA obliterating the old record of 1.29 inches that was set way back in 1891. Further north here in Thornton we recorded a bit more precipitation over the same period with 2.32 inches of rain. Normally Denver receives 1.93 inches for the entire month! Were it not for that storm, the month would have been a very dry one as a mere 0.4 inches of rain fell otherwise in Thornton.
April Extremes
April: Denver's Top 5 Coldest (Mean Temperatures):
38.8 Degrees 1920
40.5 Degrees 1997
41.0 Degrees 1873, 1983
41.4 Degrees 1957
42.2 Degrees 1947
April: Denver's Top 5 Warmest (Mean Temperatures):
56.4 Degrees 1946, 1981
55.5 Degrees 1930
55.2 Degrees 1943
54.8 Degrees 1992
53.7 Degrees 1881
April: Denver's Snowiest
33.8 Inches 1933
32.0 Inches 1885
28.3 Inches 1920
28.2 Inches 1945
25.5 Inches 1957
April: Denver's Least Snowy
0.0 Inches 1888, 1930, 1943, 1992
T Inches 1887, 1889, 1910, 1915, 1925, 1946, 1969, 2002
0.2 Inches 1963
0.3 Inches 1965
0.5 Inches 1896, 2010
April: Denver's Wettest
8.24 Inches 1900
5.86 Inches 1885
4.95 Inches 1920
4.94 Inches 1945
4.13 Inches 1957
April: Denver's Driest
0.03 Inches 1933
0.05 Inches 1885
0.23 Inches 1920
0.31 Inches 1945
0.32 Inches 1957
April 2024 Outlook
The latest long term outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center do not point to any dominating feature that would impact our overall conditions either way. The one month outlook gives us equal chances of seeing above, below or near normal temperatures. The same is said about precipitation with equal chances for all.
For More Information
Temperature Normals and Extremes for April
Monthly Temperature, Rainfall and Snowfall Extremes for April
APRIL AVERAGE STATISTICS * Normals & Means, 1981 - 2010 |
|
TEMPERATURE |
|
| AVERAGE HIGH | 61.5 |
| AVERAGE LOW | 33.3 |
| MONTHLY MEAN | 47.4 |
| DAYS WITH HIGH 90 OR ABOVE | 0 (* Less than one) |
| DAYS WITH HIGH 32 OR BELOW | 0 (* Less than one) |
| DAYS WITH LOW 32 OR BELOW | 13 |
| DAYS WITH LOWS ZERO OR BELOW | 0 (* Less than one) |
PRECIPITATION |
|
| MONTHLY MEAN | 1.71 INCHES |
| DAYS WITH MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION | 9 |
| AVERAGE SNOWFALL | 6.8 INCHES (5th SNOWIEST MONTH) |
MISCELLANEOUS APRIL AVERAGES |
|
| HEATING DEGREE DAYS | 529 |
| COOLING DEGREES DAYS | 1 |
| WIND SPEED (MPH) | 10.0 |
| WIND DIRECTION | SOUTH |
| DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORMS | 2 |
| DAYS WITH DENSE FOG | 1 |
| PERCENT OF SUNSHINE POSSIBLE | 67 |
APRIL EXTREMES |
|
| RECORD HIGH | 90 ON APRIL 30, 1992 |
| RECORD LOW | -2 ON APRIL 2, 1975 |
| WARMEST | 56.4 DEGREES IN 1946 AND 1981 |
| COLDEST | 38.8 DEGREES IN 1920 |
| WETTEST | 8.24 INCHES IN 1900 |
| MAXIMUM 24 HOUR MOISTURE | 3.25 INCHES ON THE 13TH IN 1967 |
| DRIEST | 0.03 INCH IN 1963 |
| SNOWIEST | 33.8 INCHES IN 1933 |
| MAXIMUM 24 HOUR SNOWFALL | 23.0 INCHES ON 22-23 IN 1885 |
| LEAST SNOWIEST | 0.0 INCHES IN 1888, 1930, 1943, 1992; THERE WERE 8 YEARS WITH TRACE AMOUNTS |
* Historical weather statistics gathered from the National Weather Service's Denver / Boulder forecast office data archives.