Posted by Scott Rozenbaum (Rozewood Environmental Services, Inc.)
Lopez Island
May 2, 2024
Lopez Island
May 2, 2024
360.468.4448
360.202.0096 (cell)
360.202.0096 (cell)
Lopez Weather Summary - April 2024
May 2, 2024
April 2024 started off mainly on a dry note….which persisted most of the month with only lighter showers and a couple of lighter rain events. It gave the chance for yards and fields to dry and become more solid than typical wet, early spring conditions. For some farmers growing grains, it appeared a good opportunity to plow and seed….at least certain fields. Many smaller creeks and drainages stopped flowing, while the bigger streams kept going. Better rains finally started about the last six days of April. From April 25 - 30th, I received 1.01” of rain, in the north-central part of Lopez. Many others island-wide received 0.70 to 1.0 inches during this month-end six-day period. The rains came at a good time for those farmers who had seeded their grain fields. Smaller creeks and drainages resumed flow.
From a total cumulative rainfall prospective, here is how things fell out (many precipitation observations retrieved from Weather Underground of local computerized weather stations): North-Central (yours truly): 1.79” (1.65” is my 27-year average for April; 1.77” is the 30-yr ave by PRISM model for my location). Northeast: Jack Giard, 1.84” rainfall (1.60” is Jack’s 46-year ave). Broadly speaking, the North End received between 1.50 to 1.85 inches. Central Lopez received 1.40 to 1.90”. Southend appears more variable with ranges between 1.30 and 2.00. Editorial comment: I still have some reservations about computerized rain gauges. I think they can have very good accuracy, but there can be situations, storm events, geography, or placements that may skew their data. But for the time being, let’s assume their data are mainly good. I have doubts for April 2024 with those data extremes of 2.48” and anything under 1 inch; but rainfall and storm cells can be localized and variable. Conclusions: thanks to the end of the month’s precipitation, we steadied out, and were at or close to normal or average for monthly precipitation. CoCoRaHS Network’s April 2024 cumulative rainfall map is attached (data collected with manual rain gauges).
Temperatures were close to average. Mainly days in the 50s, nights in the 40s. There were some variation. We did have days reaching into the 60s, and on April 20th, a small number of gauges broke the 70° mark! Days into the 60s varied island-wide, with 3 to 6 days being common and widespread, and a few interior-island locations even recorded 60s on 10-11 days. Rumor has it that some people even broke a sweat! My temperature extremes for April were 68° and 32°. I had two mornings, April 17th and 18th, with light patchy frost. Jack G. had six days with frost at his location. Total cumulative evapotranspiration for April 2024 was 1.58".
From a total cumulative rainfall prospective, here is how things fell out (many precipitation observations retrieved from Weather Underground of local computerized weather stations): North-Central (yours truly): 1.79” (1.65” is my 27-year average for April; 1.77” is the 30-yr ave by PRISM model for my location). Northeast: Jack Giard, 1.84” rainfall (1.60” is Jack’s 46-year ave). Broadly speaking, the North End received between 1.50 to 1.85 inches. Central Lopez received 1.40 to 1.90”. Southend appears more variable with ranges between 1.30 and 2.00. Editorial comment: I still have some reservations about computerized rain gauges. I think they can have very good accuracy, but there can be situations, storm events, geography, or placements that may skew their data. But for the time being, let’s assume their data are mainly good. I have doubts for April 2024 with those data extremes of 2.48” and anything under 1 inch; but rainfall and storm cells can be localized and variable. Conclusions: thanks to the end of the month’s precipitation, we steadied out, and were at or close to normal or average for monthly precipitation. CoCoRaHS Network’s April 2024 cumulative rainfall map is attached (data collected with manual rain gauges).
Temperatures were close to average. Mainly days in the 50s, nights in the 40s. There were some variation. We did have days reaching into the 60s, and on April 20th, a small number of gauges broke the 70° mark! Days into the 60s varied island-wide, with 3 to 6 days being common and widespread, and a few interior-island locations even recorded 60s on 10-11 days. Rumor has it that some people even broke a sweat! My temperature extremes for April were 68° and 32°. I had two mornings, April 17th and 18th, with light patchy frost. Jack G. had six days with frost at his location. Total cumulative evapotranspiration for April 2024 was 1.58".
