If you felt that April was cold, well, it was. Sort of. If you thought
that April was dry, it was, no question about it! For the sixth
consecutive month precipitation was well below normal. The current trend
is leading us into some record dry territory.

The average daily high during April was 61.8 degrees, 4.1 degrees below
normal. The average overnight low was 37.3, 4.9 degrees below normal. This
gave us a monthly mean temperature of 49.6, 4.5 degrees below normal.
April 2018 tied for the fifth coldest April on record with 1993. The
coldest April on record was 1983 with a monthly mean temperature of 45.9.
Had it not been for the nice warm up the final week of April it would have
likely been the second coldest April on record. The warmest April was 1955
with a monthly mean temperature of 63.2 degrees. Temperature records
abounded during April. The lows of 16 and 17 on the 6th and 7th set new
record lows for those dates. The old record for the 6th was 19 set in
1982. The old record low for the 7th was also 19 degrees set in 2009. The
all time coldest April temperature was 8 degrees set on April 4, 1975. The
low temperature of 70 on the 12th set a new record high low for that date.
The old record was 61 set in 1977. Likewise, the low of 68 on the 30th
broke the old record high low of 62 set in 2001. Finally, the high of 36
on the 15th broke the record low high temperature for that date. The old
record was 48 set in 1993.The highest temperature during August was 87 on
both the 12th and the 13th. The coldest temperature was the record setting
16 on the 6th.

While the cool weather was a concern for gardeners and farmers, the lack
of precipitation was an even bigger concern. Average rainfall for April is
2.95 inches. During April Milford Lake received 1.19 inches and Junction
City 1.20 inches. Year to date average rainfall is 7.06 inches. In 2018
year to date Junction City has received 2.91 inches and Milford Lake has
received 2.84 inches. The driest April on record was in 1989 when only
0.36 inches was recorded. The wettest April was in 1944 when 12.59 inches
deluged the area. The 2.84 inches of rain received since January 1st is
the lowest amount of any January through April time period since reliable
rainfall records have been kept in Junction City, 1931. In other words,
this has been the driest first four months of the year in 88 years. To
make it worse, if you look at total rainfall since September 1st of last
year, it has been the driest September to April precipitation totals in
the same time frame. The 8.16 inches received is roughly half of what we
should normally have. The previous driest September to April time frame
was September 1988 through April 1989. The wheat crop of 1989 was just
under 12 bushels per acre, about 1/4 of a normal wheat crop. On the bright
side, we did receive ½ inch of snow on April 15th almost getting us to our
long term average April snowfall total of 0.7 inches. With the end of the
snow season likely upon us we ended the year with only 8.2 inches of snow
or about 45% of normal.

At this point everyone is hoping for just a normal May. Daily average high
temperatures for May range from 72 on the 1st to 81 on the 31st. Average
overnight lows range from 48 on May Day to 58 at the end of the month. May
is normally one of our wettest months with 4.79 inches of rain being the
long term average. After six consecutive months with below normal
precipitation, it would be nice to just get close to normal precipitation
in May.

Chuck Otte
County Extension Agent, Ag & Natural Resources