I blogged about May on Monday and mentioned that this past April did a turnaround from 2022--we were on the cool, wet side where as last April was hot and dry. Take a look:
Despite that, this April came in cooler and wetter:
Despite the cooler numbers this year, the last fifty years have shown an upward temperature trend. According to Climate Matters: This April, Houston was much cooler than normal and wetter than normal. The average temperature of 68.1°F was 1.8° below normal, and the 5.87 inches of precipitation was 149% of the normal amount (data are from SC-ACIS and normal is defined relative to the 1991-2020 NCEI climate normal). Despite this month being cooler than normal, Aprils in Houston are getting hotter, leading to a change of 2.8°F since 1970.
The point is that year to year data is not nearly as important as decade to decade. The overall picture still paints a warmer than average atmosphere. May temperatures are predicted to come in about average, but this weekend is already heading toward our first taste of summer with highs reaching 90° and “Feels Like” temperatures near 100°!
Frank
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