Texas Climate Report: April 2010

April was a month filled with severe weather for many parts of Texas. During the middle of the month, El Paso residents received a heavy downpour of rain that was accompanied by golf-ball sized hail. A severe thunderstorm on the 17th spawned a tornado at King Ranch and caused flooding as more than 10 inches of rain fell in a few hours near Choke Canyon Lake. No damages were associated with the tornado, but the Coast Guard was called in to help with water rescues because the flooding was so severe. Two Houstonians were struck by lightning while playing soccer on the 18th as 2.47" of rain fell at Houston Intercontinental. Towards the end of the month, several more tornadoes made appearances across the state. The National Weather Service confirmed that 8 tornadoes touched down in the Texas Panhandle on the 23rd alone. Two tornadoes touched down near the town of Goodlight, and another touched down near Jericho and was on the ground for about eight minutes. Just two days later, an EF1 tornado touched down in Mabank, Texas.

In Lubbock, the start of 2010 is officially the wettest start of any year since records have begun. From the 15th-16th, the National Weather Service recorded 3.55" of rain, bringing the year-to-date rainfall at the Lubbock International Airport to more than 10 inches by the end of April. This 24-hour rainfall in Lubbock set a monthly record, as did the 3.82" of rain that fell in Del Rio on the 14th-15th. Rainfall was quite abundant over the western half of the state, with April totals 2-3 times more than the normal precipitation. Amarillo and Midland, which both average less than an inch of April precipitation, had 3.28" and 2.03", respectively. Meanwhile, precipitation was sparse in Southeast Texas, causing concern that it may be the beginning of a drought as the region enters the time of year where temperatures significantly warm and expected rainfall increases.

As the month came to a close, temperatures were on the rise around the whole state. On the 30th, several cities maximum temperatures were in the 90s and in Laredo, the maximum temperature was 103°F. Overall, average temperatures were above normal, with Texas experiencing its first warmer-than-normal month after an abnormally cold winter. Aside from Austin and Galveston, each first-order stations had average April minimum temperatures above normal. The low at Austin Bergstrom dropped down to 35°F on the 9th, only 1°F warmer than the all-time record low temperature for the month. Maximum temperatures were below normal in West Texas as several days of precipitation and cloud cover helped to keep temperatures down. Average April high temperatures were just a tad above normal in East Texas, where precipitation was less frequent and intense.

Monthly Summary for Selected Cities

Monthly Extremes

New Monthly Records

Climatic Averages for May