Just Remember: Gorgeous April Weather Could End In Unwanted Karma

Spring surprises. This is what it looked like on April 28, 
2010 in St. Albans, Vermont in what had otherwise been
a warm month. Spring surprises like this happen a lot! 

 Since I'm a glass half empty kind of guy let's throw a bit of cold water on this gorgeous spring week in Vermont.   

Yes, we need the rain, but you can't deny we have entered a period of wonderful early spring weather. It was sunny, with cool but pleasant breezes Sunday through Tuesday. 

For the rest of the week, it'll be in the 60s for most of us, which is at least 10 degrees above normal. The sunshine will continue. 

Yet, April is fickle to say the least, and we can still get some awful throwbacks to winter. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but there's always that risk. 

It's always fun to consult "The Vermont Weather Book" by David Ludlum to find the "it can always be worse" stories. 

Probably the crappiest April in Vermont history was 1874.  Several snowstorms struck the state that month, the biggest of which was on April 26, near the close of the month.  Bellows Falls had two feet of new snow, and low elevation Burlington still managed nine inches.

It snowed again on April 30, 1874. Sleighs were still running on the streets of Woodstock, and nearly three feet of snow remained on the ground in St. Johnsbury.  

In modern times, the greatest April snowfall on record, at least in Burlington, came on the 16th and 17th in 1983. That storm dumped 15.6 inches on the city. 

On April, 27-28 2010, which was actually an unusually warm month, snow hit parts of Vermont, especially the northern Champlain Valley hit while trees were prematurely leafing out. Burlington received 5.3 inches and 10 inches clobbered St. Albans.  Particularly around St. Albans, there weas heavy tree damage as the weight of the snow on partially leafed out trees was too much. 

Typical of the season, though, it was back up to the mid 70s by May 1 and in the mid-80s by May 2.  

You think we're done with subzero cold?  Nope! It's still possible, but frankly not in the cards this year. On April 5, 1954, it was 12 below in Lemington, Vermont and 10 below in West Burke.  It warmed up a couple days later and the rest of April, 1954 was kind of average, so that was good, I suppose.

It was almost as cold in April, 1972.  It got down to 2 above in Burlington, still the record for coldest reading in April there. It was 2 below in Enosburg Falls, and there was still 39 inches of snow left on the ground in high-elevation Peru, Vermont that day. 

What had been an early spring being interrupted by a snowstorm
on April 28, 2010 in St. Albans, Vermont

Unlike in 1954, it never really warmed up all that much later in April, 1972.  Most days for the rest of the month only made it into 40s to around 50 for the rest of the month.  

All but four nights that month got below freezing. I bet the trees were awfully late leafing out that year. 

April can be extreme the other way, too.  There's been at least a couple notable hot spells this time of year, too.

On April 18 and 19, 1976, high temperature records for the month were shattered as it got to 91 degrees in Burlington, which was then by far the earliest 90 degree reading on record. Vernon reached a remarkable 97 degrees.

Consistent with April, however, a little over a week after that heat wave, it snowed a little.

On April 17, 2002, another early season heat wave set a new record for earliest 90 degree reading on record in Burlington. Same thing as in 1976. It snowed a few days later. On top of that, a very hard freeze damaged premature tree leaves and fruit tree blooms.

This April, forecasts call for temperatures to remain above normal for about a week.  Then a possible change in the weather pattern is likely after that.  Will we receive our (inevitable?) late April snows and frosts? Time will tell, but Vermont's track record in this regard makes me think we will.