April Weather Summary for the Southeast

Here is a summary of the weather in the Southeast for the month of April, courtesy the Southeast Regional Climate Center.

• Mean temperatures in April were between 3 and 5 degrees F (1.6 and 2.8 degrees C) above normal across most of the Southeast region. It was the warmest April in Miami, FL and Cape Hatteras, NC in records extending back to 1898 and 1933, respectively. April ranked among the top 5 warmest in many other locations across the Southeast, including Orlando, FL, Charleston, SC, Raleigh-Durham, NC, and Richmond, VA. Across the region, there were 386 daily maximum and 696 daily high minimum temperature record tied or broken during the month. During the Masters Golf Tournament on the 9th of the month, Augusta, GA recorded a daily maximum temperature of 91 degrees F (32.8 degrees C), which was 1 degree F (0.5 degrees C) shy of tying the all-time highest temperature recorded during the event since 1932. For the second straight month, mean temperatures were close to normal across Puerto Rico, while the U.S. Virgin Islands experienced their sixth straight month of below normal temperatures.
• As in March, precipitation totals were highly variable across the Southeast region. The wettest locations (200 to 300 percent of normal) were again found across northern Alabama and Georgia, as well as western North Carolina and Virginia. Huntsville, AL recorded 10.11 inches (256.8 mm) of precipitation for the month, making it the 5th wettest April in a record extending back to 1895. Persistent southerly flow ahead of several strong frontal systems contributed to a second straight month of above normal rainfall in parts of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Lake Toxaway, NC recorded 7.30 inches (185.4 mm) of precipitation on the 16th of the month, which broke the previous monthly 24-hr rainfall total of 5.59 inches (141.9 mm). For the month, Lake Toxaway recorded 11.78 inches (299.2 mm) of precipitation, marking the second straight month with more than 10 inches (254 mm) of precipitation. Heavy rainfall associated with a series of severe thunderstorms contributed to corridors of slightly above normal monthly precipitation totals across central portions of the Southeast. Conversely, it was a dry April across southern portions of Alabama and Georgia, eastern sections of North Carolina and Virginia, and nearly all of Florida, with precipitation totals only 25 to 75 percent of normal for the month. The driest locations (less than 25 percent of normal) were found across southern and eastern Florida and eastern sections of Georgia and South Carolina. Monthly precipitation was 50 to 75 percent of normal across the northern and southern coasts of Puerto Rico, but more than 200 percent of normal across the island interior.
• April 2011 was an historic month for severe weather across the Southeast region. In total, there were 1,877 reports of severe weather, including 323 reports of tornadoes. This is the greatest number of severe weather reports for any month in the Southeast region since 2000. The majority of the reports were issued during four separate outbreaks. The first occurred on the 4th and 5th of the month, as a large squall line raced across the region. Several weak to moderate tornadoes touched down in Georgia, killing seven people and causing hundreds of thousands of power outages. Widespread wind damage was also reported from the Gulf Coast to the mid-Atlantic region. The ASOS station at the Columbia Metro Airport in South Carolina recorded a 75 mph (120 km/hr) wind gust on the morning of the 5th, which tied for the fastest speed ever recorded at that station. The second outbreak occurred on the 8th and 9th, as a cluster of strong storms produced a few weak tornadoes and swaths of large hail, several of which were baseball-size, across Virginia and the Carolinas. On the 15th and 16th of the month, a strong cyclonic system brought another, more significant round of severe weather to the Southeast. There were 90 confirmed tornadoes from this outbreak, with most occurring in Alabama and North Carolina. Three of the tornadoes in Alabama were fatal, including an EF-3 that killed four people in the Deer Park community north of Mobile. However, the greatest impact from this event was felt in North Carolina, which experienced its worst tornado outbreak since March 1984. There were 30 confirmed tornadoes across the state, the most ever from a single outbreak in North Carolina, resulting in 24 deaths. Half of these deaths occurred in a mobile home community in Bertie County in the northeastern part of the state. Perhaps the most notable tornado from this outbreak was an EF-3 that completely destroyed a Lowes hardware store in Sanford and then destroyed several structures near downtown Raleigh. In Virginia, 12 tornadoes were confirmed from this outbreak, including an EF-3 that resulted in two deaths in the Tidewater region near Clopton. The most significant outbreak of the month occurred from the 26th to the 28th, as another strong cyclonic system helped spawn numerous supercell thunderstorms across the southern U.S. The greatest impact was felt in Alabama, where 30 tornadoes contributed to over 200 deaths across the state. Nearly half of the confirmed deaths were associated with two major tornadoes. One was an EF-4 that killed 65 people along an 80 mile (128 km) track that took it through the cities of Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. According to NOAA, these are the most fatalities from a single tornado in the U.S. since May 25, 1955. Over 5,700 structures were destroyed in Jefferson County (Birmingham), with damage estimates approaching $750 million. The strongest tornado from this outbreak was an EF-5 that tracked over 130 miles from northwest Alabama to southern Tennessee. This tornado was responsible for 36 deaths in the town of Hackleburg, AL. In Georgia, there were 15 tornadoes confirmed from this outbreak, including an EF-4 that struck the town of Ringgold near the Tennessee border. Fifteen deaths have been confirmed in Georgia from this outbreak. In southwest Virginia, an EF-3 tornado caused extensive damage and resulted in three fatalities near the town of Glade Springs. The severity of this outbreak may equal or exceed that of the April 1974 Super Outbreak, however, the exact number of tornadoes and deaths is still being determined.
• Despite generally below average rainfall in April, drought conditions improved slightly throughout the month across the Southeast region. Areas of moderate drought (D1) were eliminated across the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, while the region of extreme drought (D3) in southeast Georgia was reduced to severe drought (D2). The overall warmth and dryness in April helped farmers across Georgia and Florida prepare for the planting of cotton and peanuts, though declines in pasture and leafy vegetables were reported. The continued dryness across south Florida and Puerto Rico forced some communities to begin implementing water restrictions.

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