April

April Tornado Outbreak Scars Oklahoma

Severe weather roared back into Oklahoma during April with giant hail, severe winds up to 80 mph, flash flooding, and over 40 tornadoes—a number that is destined to grow with further investigation by National Weather Service damage survey teams. That total included a historic outbreak on April 27, a day where at least 22 tornadoes were confirmed to have struck the state—the second-most prolific outbreak for a single day during April on record, behind the 33 twisters back on April 14, 2011.

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April Sees Tornado Outbreak and Drought Relief

Drought relief and severe weather topped April’s weather headlines with a parched northwest Oklahoma seeing its first significant moisture in months and central Oklahoma enduring a tornado outbreak. Eighteen tornadoes touched down on April 19, a day when severe weather was thought to be limited by a warm atmospheric lid above the surface. High temperatures over 90 degrees combined with a potent dryline to break that lid and initiate the storms that would eventually spawn the twisters.

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April Winds Highest in Mesonet Era

Opinions on Oklahoma’s weather are often more variable than the weather itself. Some Oklahomans will look back on April 2022 and remember the seven confirmed tornadoes that touched down, although that is still below the long-term average of 11.7 for the month. Many others will remember drought that saw both intensification in the northwest and improvement across the southeast. There is one aspect of this April’s weather that would unite most Oklahomans, however—the wind.

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Cold April Feels Severe Weather Impacts

Cool weather helped keep severe weather at bay in Oklahoma throughout much of April. A late spring freeze—damaging in its own right—punctuated the scarcity of severe weather during the month’s first three weeks. The cold eventually gave way to an emphatic exclamation point, however, when tornadoes, flooding, high winds, and a hail-borne catastrophe struck during April’s final week. At least four confirmed tornadoes touched on April 28, including an EF-1 twister that struck near Pauls Valley at the stroke of midnight.

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Weather Hazards Battle for April Headlines

It’s difficult to say which weather hazard should claim top billing for April. Two late season freeze events made their pitch by battering the state’s winter wheat crop and fruit orchards, primarily on the 15th and again on the 18th. Temperatures dropped into the 20s as far south as the Red River, with a bit of light snow falling across the western half of the state during the extended cold snap. Drought also made a bid for the top spot by threatening to spread from its confines in the far western Panhandle to a much broader area of western Oklahoma.

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Severe Weather Punctuates April

Following a few brief glimpses in March, spring finally arrived in earnest during April. The month was wet for most and warm for all, and came complete with all the spring severe weather hazards Oklahomans are accustomed to. The state’s first official tornado of 2019 struck on the 17th near Shattuck. The twister, rated an EF1 by the National Weather Service (NWS), damaged homes, sheds, trees and fences. Baseball size hail fell near Selman in Harper County that same day, and near Gould in Harmon County on April 3.

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April's Fiery Chill

Wildfires rolled across the Oklahoma prairie for two weeks in April, scorching hundreds of thousands of acres and placing entire towns in jeopardy. The fires came on the heels of more than six months of drought in which western Oklahoma received virtually no significant precipitation. Vegetation that had seen abundant growth during 2017 lay dormant or dead, awaiting a spark. Weather conditions coalesced on the 12th and 17th to produce fire danger labeled “historic.” As feared, fires roared to life on the 12th, driven to a frenzy on winds gusting to over 50 mph.

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April Weather Runs the Gamut

April took its penchant for widely varying weather to near satirical extremes across Oklahoma. Floods, tornadoes, drought and blizzards – Mother Nature pulled out all the stops to give Oklahoma nearly the entire gamut of weather hazards. As many as six separate storm systems traversed the state during April, but the worst was saved for last. A powerful upper-level storm impacted the state from the 28th through the 30th. Widespread rainfall amounts of 3-6 inches produced flooding from southwestern through northeastern Oklahoma.

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April Sees Active Weather Ignite

Fears of the strengthening drought and associated wildfire danger, so prevalent through the first three months of the year, lasted about a week into April before Mother Nature unleashed spring on Oklahoma. Flooding, gigantic hail, severe winds and a final week filled with the threat of tornadoes were all in the offing during the month. The drought was quenched in most parts of the state by repeated storm systems. According to preliminary data from the Oklahoma Mesonet, the robust moisture propelled April to rank as the seventh wettest on record, dating back to 1895.

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April Rains Hammer Oklahoma Drought

Mired in significant drought for much of the last five years, western Oklahomans have been in desperate need of moisture. Mother Nature finally granted that wish and provided abundant rainfall during April. Much of Oklahoma saw at least 4-6 inches of rain during the month. According to preliminary data from the Oklahoma Mesonet, the statewide average rain total was 4.8 inches, 1.6 inches above normal and the 17th wettest April since records began in 1895. West central Oklahoma enjoyed its second wettest April on record with an average total of 7.6 inches, 5.2 inches above normal.

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