Highlights

In Fairbanks the average temperature for April was a chilly 18.0°F, an extraordinary 14.5°F below the long-term mean of 32.5°F, and the third coldest April on record for the past 100 years. The highest temperature was a nice 48°F on the 23rd, while the lowest temperature for the month was a chilly -21°F on the 11th. That -21°F was a new daily record low, breaking the old record of -17°F set in 1955. Another record low was set the next day with -15°F and broke the 1936 record of -12°F. Then on the 28th the temperature bottomed out at 2°F shattering the 8°F record from way back in 1924. With the exception of the first three days of the month, the temperatures stayed significantly below normal. Precipitation was above normal in April with a total of 0.66", more than twice the normal of 0.31". A total of 0.16" or water equivalent precipitation on the 9th was a new record for that day, just edging out the 1934 record of 0.15". Snowfall totaled 9.9", 241% higher than the expected 2.9". The 8th saw 2.1" of snow come down, just breaking the 2.0" record set way back in 1929. This was followed on the 9th with 2.6" more snow topping the 2.1" from 1982. All this snow added up the eighth snowiest April on record. Mean snow depth (21") was 75% above normal for April, and the snow depth of 18" at the end of the month was well above the normal of just 1". The mean wind speed was 6.1 mph, with a maximum gust of 40 mph on the 24th, blowing from a westerly direction.