APRIL SAW AN ACTIVE PATTERN AND PLENTY OF SHOWERS THROUGHOUT THE
MONTH AS NUMEROUS STORM SYSTEMS MOVED ACROSS THE AREA. A COUPLE OF
THE SYSTEMS HAD ENOUGH COLD AIR THAT THE PRECIPITATION FELL AS SNOW.
AS IS TYPICALLY FOR APRIL...A LARGE RANGE OF TEMPERATURES WAS
EXPERIENCED DURING THE MONTH. THE WARMEST READINGS OCCURRED ON APRIL
23 WHEN THE THERMOMETER REACHED 87 DEGREES AT NORTH PLATTE AND 89
DEGREES AT VALENTINE. EARLIER IN THE MONTH...ON THE SEVENTH...THE
MERCURY DROPPED TO 13 DEGREES AND 6 DEGREES AT NORTH PLATTE AND
VALENTINE RESPECTIVELY.
 
FOR NORTH PLATTE...THE AVERAGE DAILY MEAN TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH
WAS 46.7 DEGREES...WHICH WAS 1.4 DEGREES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 48.1
DEGREES. THE AVERAGE DAILY MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE WAS 59.6
DEGREES...WHICH WAS 3.1 DEGREES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 62.7 DEGREES.
THE AVERAGE DAILY MINIMUM TEMPERATURE WAS 33.7 DEGREES...OR 0.3
DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 33.4 DEGREES. NO TEMPERATURE RECORDS
WERE SET DURING THE MONTH.
 
FOR VALENTINE...THE AVERAGE DAILY MEAN TEMPERATURE FOR APRIL AT
MILLER FIELD WAS 44.3 DEGREES...WHICH WAS 1.8 DEGREES BELOW THE
NORMAL OF 46.1 DEGREES. THE AVERAGE DAILY HIGH TEMPERATURE WAS 56.0
DEGREES...OR 3.8 DEGREES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 59.8 DEGREES. THE
AVERAGE DAILY MINIMUM TEMPERATURE WAS 32.6 DEGREES...OR 0.2 DEGREES
ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 32.4 DEGREES. ONE TEMPERATURE RECORD WAS SET
DURING THE MONTH. ON APRIL 7 THE MERCURY DROPPED TO 6
DEGREES...BREAKING THE OLD RECORD OF 10 DEGREES SET IN 1997 AND 1961.
 
FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL 2009...2.84 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION FELL AT
LEE BIRD FIELD. THIS WAS 0.87 INCHES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 1.97
INCHES. FOR THE MONTH...7.5 INCHES OF SNOW FELL WHICH WAS 4.7 INCHES
ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 2.8 INCHES. NO PRECIPITATION RECORDS WERE
SET...HOWEVER ONE SNOWFALL RECORD WAS SET. ON APRIL 9 A TOTAL OF 3.4
INCHES OF SNOWFALL WAS RECORDED...BREAKING THE OLD RECORD OF 3.2 SET
IN 1919 AND 1913. THE MONTHLY TOTAL OF 7.5 INCHES OF SNOW RANKS AS
THE ELEVENTH SNOWIEST APRIL ON RECORD FOR NORTH PLATTE.
 
PRECIPITATION DURING THE MONTH FOR VALENTINE TOTALED 2.84 INCHES AT
MILLER FIELD. THIS TOTAL WAS 0.87 INCHES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 1.97
INCHES. SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH TOTALED 7.5 INCHES WHICH WAS 3.1
INCHES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 4.4 INCHES. ONE SNOWFALL RECORD WAS SET
DURING THE MONTH. ON THE FOURTH...7.0 INCHES OF SNOW WAS
RECORDED...SHATTERING THE OLD RECORD OF 2.0 INCHES SET IN 1964.
THERE WERE NO PRECIPITATION RECORDS.
 
           NORTH PLATTE SUMMARY           VALENTINE SUMMARY
         | APR 09 | NORM | DIFF  |    | APR 09 | NORM | DIFF  |
AVG TEMP |  46.7  | 48.1 | -1.4  |    |  44.3  | 46.1 | -1.8  |
AVG HIGH |  59.6  | 62.7 | -3.1  |    |  56.0  | 59.8 | -3.8  |
AVG LOW  |  33.7  | 33.4 |  0.3  |    |  32.6  | 32.4 |  0.2  |
PRECIP   |  2.84  | 1.97 |  0.87 |    |  2.84  | 1.97 |  0.87 |
SNOWFALL |   7.5  |  2.8 |  4.7  |    |   7.5  |  4.4 |  3.1  |
 
FOR THE 2008-2009 WINTER SEASON...SNOWFALL RECORDED AT NORTH
PLATTE...LEE BIRD FIELD...TOTALED 32.0 INCHES...WHICH IS 4.2 INCHES
ABOVE THE NORMAL 27.8 INCHES. AT MILLER FIELD IN VALENTINE...A TOTAL
OF 31.4 INCHES OF SNOW HAS BEEN RECORDED...WHICH IS 5.5 INCHES BELOW
THE NORMAL OF 36.9 INCHES. THE SNOWFALL SEASON GOES FROM JULY 1 TO
JUNE 30...SO THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY FOR ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL TO BE
RECORDED THIS SEASON...HOWEVER...SNOWFALL AFTER MAY 1 IS RARE.
 
THE LATEST TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK FOR MAY...ACCORDING
TO THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER IS FOR A HIGH CHANCE OF BELOW
NORMAL TEMPERATURES. FOR PRECIPITATION...WEST OF HIGHWAY 83 EQUAL
CHANCES EXIST FOR BELOW...ABOVE OR NEAR NORMAL. EAST OF THIS
ROUTE...ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION IS FORECAST FOR MAY.  DURING A
TYPICAL MAY...3.34 INCHES AND 3.20 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION OCCURS AT
NORTH PLATTE AND VALENTINE RESPECTIVELY.
 
...NORTH PLATTE AND VALENTINE PRECIPITATION FOR THE LAST 12 MONTHS...
 
                            PRECIPITATION             DEPARTURE
                            LBF       VTN             LBF        VTN
MONTH
 
MAY 2008                    7.45      3.53            4.11      0.33
JUNE 2008                   2.79      4.48           -0.38      1.47
JULY 2008                   2.23      3.66           -0.94      0.29
AUGUST 2008                 2.75      1.07            0.60     -1.13
SEPTEMBER 2008              1.34      2.31            0.02      0.70
OCTOBER 2008                4.78      1.98            3.54      0.76
NOVEMBER 2008               0.34      0.34           -0.42     -0.38
DECEMBER 2008               0.24      0.24           -0.16     -0.09
 
JANUARY 2009                0.33      0.42           -0.06      0.12
FEBRUARY 2009               0.96      0.89            0.45      0.41
MARCH 2009                  0.32      1.02           -0.92     -0.09
APRIL 2009                  2.84      2.84            0.87      0.87
 
 
TOTALS                     26.37     22.78            6.71      3.26