Source: Corey Davis,  NC CLIMATE OFFICE, 5/4/21


A month of up-and-down temperatures also saw limited precipitation across the state. Plus, we review an eventful tropical off-season and preview the upcoming hurricane season.

Big Temperature Swings
The spring often sees a tug-of-war between the still-cold air to our north and warming tropical air to our south. Last month, their battleground was across North Carolina, as April was a month defined more by our temperature swings and extremes than by the monthly average temperature itself.

With that in mind, the preliminary statistics from the National Centers for Environmental Information indicate a statewide average temperature of 58.7°F, or tied for our 47th-warmest April out of the past 127 years.

The month started with a chilly morning on April 3, but as we entered a stretch of a warm weather in the week after that — including the state’s lone 90°F reading on April 7 at Hofmann Forest in Onslow County — it appeared we had seen our final spring freeze, not far from the typical timing.

By the middle of the month, regular cold frontal passages presaged more seasonable temperatures, like the April 15 event that wasn’t too taxing, with highs in the upper 60s and low 70s for several days afterwards, as observed at our New London ECONet station.

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