April was one of our warmest
April in Baltimore turned out to be one of the warmest on record for the city, putting a 90-degree rush on the summer weather that is sure to follow.
The April climate summary from the National Weather Service notes that the average temperature for the month was 57.1 degrees. That was 3.9 degrees above the long-term (30-year) average for Aprils at BWI.
When the statisticians out at Sterling looked at just the daily high temperatures, they found that the average daily high of 69.7 degrees last month was the 6th-warmest on record for the city, tying for that spot with April 1976.
Much of that heat came during the first week of April. The average for that week was 64.6 degrees, the warmest first week of April on record, beating the old (1929) record by just a tenth of a degree.
The hottest stretch came on April 5, 6 and 7. The high of 84 degrees on the 5th broke a record of 83 set on that date in 1942. The high of 90 degrees on the 6th tied the record set in 1929.
The twin highs of 90 degrees on the 6th and 7th also tied as the second-earliest first occurrence of 90-degree weather on record in Baltimore. The earliest on the books was on March 29, 1945, when the mercury hit 90.
When they looked at March and April together, the number-crunchers at Sterling noticed two consecutive warm months. In fact, this March and April ranked as the 10th-warmest on record, and the warmest since 1977.
Warm springs are an increasing concern among climate scientists and biologists. They see a gradual "spring creep" - warmer temperatures coming earlier and earlier in the year - that shows signs of getting some species out of synch with vital food sources or pollinators. People adjust pretty easily, but some animals and the plants and animals they have depended on for eons are finding themselves on increasingly different schedules. Elsewhere, earlier snowmelts are increasing the frequency and size of western forest fires.
(SUN PHOTOS/Top: John Makely, 2006/ Bottom: Algerina Perna, 2008)