Good riddance April. Not many of us would choose April as our favourite month. It can and often does serve up the heaviest snowfalls, flooding rain and extreme wind gusts.
I love to look back at the numbers at the end of a month but before I do, I usually ask a few co-workers and neighbours what they thought about the month. I’ve learned that the answers vary, based on what people do. Those who work Monday to Friday only seem to remember the weekend weather; dog owners easily recall the number of stinky dog days.
Most people I’ve spoken to tell me it’s been a terrible April. Well, I guess that really does depend on where you live.
Atlantic Canada is vast and stretches across three climate regions and many, many micro-climates. So let’s let the numbers do the talking. Here’s a look at a small but representative sampling from across Atlantic Canada. The numbers in parentheses are the 30-year averages.
At a glance, the rainfall numbers certainly jump out with more than double the normal rain in Fredericton, N.B., and Charlottetown, P.E.I.. It was a white month in Corner Brook, N.L., with twice the usual April snow.
Overall, it was a very windy month with honours going to the Wreckhouse area of Newfoundland. On April 3 the east wind was clocked at 166 km/h.
On that note, I would like to share this little Grandma Says ditty with you: “When April blows his horn, it’s good for both hay and corn.”
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Cindy Day is the chief meteorologist for SaltWire Network.
