April of 2024 was warmer than normal, much wetter than normal and considerably more expensive than normal for homeowners dealing with hail damage.
The average high temperature was 75.6, one degree above the climatological norm. The average low was 55.3, which was 4 degrees above the normal average low of 51. The day/night average temperature worked out to 65.4, compared to the norm of 62.9.
Precipitation was a generous 7.67 inches of rain, mixed with a little hail thrown in for good measure. That was more than twice the normal April rainfall of 3.03 inches.
Rainfall in April alone exceeded the 7 inches of rain received during the first three months of the year. The month started off with a third of an inch on the 1st, followed by 3.57” from the 8th to the 10th. Another 2.12” fell on the 20th, 0.17 between the 25th and 27th and 1.48” on the 28th, (although an unofficial report from a certain publisher claimed 2.5” in Lantana). As of April 28th, rainfall at Denton Enterprise was 14.67”, which is 5.17” above normal for the first four months of the year.
Severe weather struck early and often. On April 1st, baseball hail pelted Justin, Northlake and much of southwest Denton County. A week later, on April 8th, another storm dropped 1” hail on Roanoke and golf ball hail (1.75”) in Aubrey with wind gusts near 60 mph.
Another severe weather event from April 26 through April 28 took the lives of four people across Oklahoma. Tornadoes were confirmed in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. The swath of wind and hail damage stretched from the Texas Big Bend over 1,300 miles to northern Michigan. The three-day “super outbreak” was produced by two strong upper-level storm systems that swung out of the western states into the heart of Tornado Alley, which was warm, humid and ripe for powerful storms. As of our deadline, the stormy pattern was likely to continue into early May, so be ready.
Brad Barton is Chief Meteorologist of WBAP 820 and 570 KLIF.
You can follow Brad on Twitter @BradBartonDFW / @WBAP 24/7 News.