SYRACUSE -- As you may already know, we’re in fourth place for all time snowfall for Syracuse standing at just over 178 inches... so far! Yup, that’s right. So far.
We may not like to hear it but the wording of “so far” is completely accurate. First of all, computer models continue to tell of a fairly powerful storm which will be working up the Atlantic Seaboard this Thursday night into Friday, and could graze us with some wet snow or a wintry mixture - or could just barely miss us. It will be a close call and you will want to stay tuned to your CNY Central TV stations and right here on the web for important updates.
By the way, on the internet, folks started terming this weeks storm a possible “Super Storm” for April 1. Does that mean a lot of snow? Hurricane force winds? Both? Who knows, but I doubt this would will be what we might think of as a “Super Storm”. Let’s not get outselves too worked up.
Even if we see NO new snow from this coastal system, here are the facts: We average almost five inches of snow each April in Syracuse. That would be five inches closer to our all time record snowfall year of 1993 when we totaled 192.1 inches.
With that in mind, here are some other “normals” of what we can typically expect around here for the new month.
APRIL AVERAGES
- Average high temperature 56.6 degrees
- Average low temperature 36.4 degrees
- Average Rainfall (or liquid / melted snow): 3.39"
- Average snowfall 4.8"
- Average high & low temperatures April 1st 49 / 30
- Average high & low temperature April 30th 62 / 40
- Sunrise & sunset April 1st 6:47 & 7:31
- Sunrise & sunset April 30th 6:00 & 8:04
(This means we gain 1 hour and 20 minutes of daylight by the end of the month. Nice!)
RECORDS AND EXTREMES IN APRIL:
- Record high temperature 92 degrees set April 28th, 1990
- Record low temperature 9 degrees set April 7th, 1972
- Record daily precipitation: 2.42" on April 2nd, 1970
- Record daily snowfall: 7.1" on April 4th, 1975
- Snowiest April was 1983 with 16.4"
- Least snowiest Aprils: No snow in 1998 & 1999
- Wettest April was 1976 with 8.12"
- Driest April was 1985 with 1.22"
Now we know the averages and the extremes of what can happen. Does this have any real bearing on what will actually happen in April? Not really. The thing to keep in mind however is that, although as the old saying goes, “Records are made to be broken” (just like last month with snowfall), setting a new weather record is a rare thing. This means the chances are pretty good that our April weather will end up “somewhere” close to normal - i.e. a degree or two above or below the average temperature and a couple of inches of snow above or below the average.
If it happens to be more than that, at least with the longer days and stronger sun, it won’t last long at all!
Have a good April, and if you're not a Facebook friend yet, please do so. We have lots of weather talk going on about this storm. Here’s my FB link.
