CXUS51 KBUF 091517 CLMBUF CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY 816 AM EDT FRI MAY 01 2026 ................................... ...THE BUFFALO NY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL 2026... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1871 TO 2026 WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR'S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S) NORMAL ................................................................ TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 94 04/28/1990 LOW 5 04/01/1923 HIGHEST 79 04/18 80 04/24 LOWEST 22 04/08 23 04/08 AVG. MAXIMUM 60.2 54.7 5.5 57.4 AVG. MINIMUM 40.0 36.5 3.5 37.9 MEAN 50.1 45.6 4.5 47.7 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0 DAYS MAX <= 32 0 0.5 -0.5 0 DAYS MIN <= 32 4 9.3 -5.3 7 DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 0 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 6.38 2017 MINIMUM 0.59 1915 TOTALS 5.58 3.37 2.21 2.86 DAYS >= .01 20 15 DAYS >= .10 11 8 DAYS >= .50 5 2 DAYS >= 1.00 1 0 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 1.39 03/31 TO 04/01 1.12 04/02 TO 04/03 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 15.7 1885 TOTALS T 2.5 -2.5 0.1 SINCE 7/1 92.5 95.4 -2.9 SNOWDEPTH AVG. 0 0 DAYS >= 1.0 0 0.8 -0.8 0 DAYS >= 0.1 0 1 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 0 0 MM 24 HR TOTAL MM DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 440 584 -144 515 SINCE 7/1 6063 6159 -96 MM COOLING TOTAL 0 2 -2 2 SINCE 1/1 0 2 -2 MM ................................................................ WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 10.8 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 33/250 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 51/240 DATE 04/14 SKY COVER POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 3 NUMBER OF DAYS PC 9 NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 18 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 71 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 2 MIXED PRECIP 0 HEAVY RAIN 7 RAIN 11 LIGHT RAIN 22 FREEZING RAIN 0 LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 2 HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 0 LIGHT SNOW 5 SLEET 0 FOG 17 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 2 HAZE 8 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && ... UNSETTLED AND WARM APRIL ... A WET, BUT WARM MONTH OF APRIL OCCURRED FOR WESTERN NEW YORK TO START THE BEGINNING OF THE GROWING SEASON. FOLLOWING A COLD WINTER, PLEASANT DAYS IN THE 60S AND 70S WERE FREQUENT THROUGHOUT THE MONTH. HOWEVER, UNSETTLED WEATHER WAS A MAINSTAY AS WELL WITH DAY-TO-DAY PRECIPITATION EVENTS COMMON, INTERTWINED WITH SEVERAL DAYS OF SOAKING RAIN THAT WERE SPREAD EVENLY THROUGHOUT THE MONTH.  THE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL AVERAGED 50.1°F. THIS PLACES APRIL AS 8TH WARMEST ON RECORD AND WARMEST APRIL SINCE 2017. THERE WERE 10 DAYS THAT REACHED 70°F OR WARMER, TYING WITH 1985 FOR GREATEST IN CLIMATOLOGIC HISTORY. ON THE OTHER HAND, 4 DAYS REACHING 32°F OR LOWER IS 6 DAYS LESS THAN THE AIRPORT MEAN. THE WARMEST STRETCH FOR THE MONTH OCCURRED FROM APRIL 13TH TO THE 18TH WHEN THE DAILY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AVERAGED 16 DEGREES ABOVE THE DAILY NORMAL. THERE WAS ONE RECORD WARM MINIMUM TEMPERATURE SET, THIS OCCURRING ON THE 14TH WITH A MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 54°F BREAKING THE FORMER RECORD OF 52°F SET BACK IN 1955.    PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH TOTALED 5.58 INCHES WHICH PLACES APRIL AS THE 6TH WETTEST MONTH ON RECORD. THIS ALSO IS THE WETTEST MONTH SINCE 2017. COMBINED WITH A WET MARCH, THE MARCH- APRIL TOTAL PRECIPITATION OF 11.91 INCHES MARKS THE WETTEST START TO METEOROLOGICAL SPRING ON RECORD. TRUE TO THE NORM, SNOW OCCURRED IN APRIL, WITH JUST A TRACE OF SNOW MEASURED ON 5 DAYS THROUGH THE MONTH, THE LAST OCCURRENCE ON APRIL 20TH. THE 20 DAYS WITH MEASURED PRECIPITATION IS TIED FOR SECOND GREATEST ON RECORD, TRAILING ONLY 1961 WHICH FEATURED 22 SUCH DAYS. HEAVIER PRECIPITATION WITHIN THE MONTH WAS SPREAD OUT JUST ENOUGH TO LIMIT ANY WIDESPREAD FLOODING. RIVER FLOODING AND LOW-LYING PONDING OF WATER STARTED THE MONTH, THIS FROM A WET END TO MARCH, WITH CONDITIONS IMPROVING THROUGH THE FIRST TWO DAYS OF THE MONTH. OVER TWO INCHES OF RAIN FELL OVER A 5- DAY STRETCH FROM THE 15TH TO THE 19TH, BUT WAS SPREAD OUT ENOUGH TO AGAIN LIMIT FLOODING, WITH JUST RISES TO NEAR BANKFULL ON AREA CREEKS AND RIVERS. THE WETTEST DAY OF THE MONTH OCCURRED ON THE 25TH WITH 1.08 INCHES OF RAIN MEASURED AT THE AIRPORT.  THOUGH A WARM AND WET MONTH, ACTIVE WEATHER WAS AT A MINIMUM THROUGH THE MONTH WITH MUCH OF THE PRECIPITATION STRATIFORM, OR WEAKLY CONVECTIVE. THE ONE DAY WITH SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OCCURRED DURING THE EVENING HOURS OF THE 15TH. SEVERAL STORMS ALONG A LAKE BREEZE BOUNDARY ON THE 15TH BLOSSOMED INTO DAMAGING THUNDERSTORMS, DOWNING TREES AND WIRES ACROSS SOUTHWESTERN NEW YORK STATE. A COUPLE OF BRIEF TORNADOES SPUN-UP WITHIN THESE CLUSTERS OF STORMS, WITH THESE TORNADOES OCCURRING WITHIN MACHIAS AND NORTHEAST OF FRANKLINVILLE. BOTH TORNADOES HAD A PATH LENGTH OF LESS THAN A QUARTER OF A MILE. THERE WERE TWO TWO-DAY DRY PERIODS IN THE MONTH, THESE OCCURRING ON THE 22ND-23RD AS WELL AS THE 26TH-27TH.  ICE REMAINED ON LAKE ERIE THROUGH THE 10TH OF THE MONTH, WITH THE WATER TEMPERATURE QUICKLY CLIMBING TO 46 DEGREES BY THE END OF THE MONTH. THIS 46°F READING ON THE 30TH OF THE MONTH IS 7 DEGREES GREATER THAN NORMAL. WINDS AVERAGED NORMAL FOR THE MONTH AND THE STRONGEST GUST, 51 MPH ON THE 14TH OCCURRED IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON BEHIND A COLD FRONT PASSAGE.  IN ALL, A WARM AND WET MONTH, BUT WITHOUT MANY SEVERE STORMS.   && THOMAS $$