The month that came in like a lion, and went out like one too.

Well we just about have April in the books now...and boy what a month it was!  April 2011 was above average in every climatological scale you can put it on...and not just above average, WAY above average.  Check out some of these stats I recorded right here in Lawrenceburg:

--12.76" of rainfall for the month, which is an ALL-TIME record for the month of April, and is just barely shy of the wettest month of all-time in Kentucky, period.

--58.2 degrees was the average monthly temperature, which is approximately 3 degrees above average for the month.

--23 out of the 30 days of the month featured wind gusting to at least 30 miles per hour!  Wind records are hard to come by...  but I'm certain this one has to be WELL above average!

--7 different Tornado Watch or Severe Thunderstorm Watch boxes issued that covered central Kentucky.

--7 different Tornado or Severe Thunderstorm Warnings issued for Anderson County.

To say that it was a wild month would be a major understatement.  We probably won't see a month quite like this again for a LONG time, if even in our lifetimes. 

Statewide there were dozens of tornadoes reported and serious damage from storms from Paducah to Pikeville.  It seems that all of the thunderstorm action has been focused on the southeast this year, rather than the Plains where we usually see it.

Check out this map from the Storm Prediction Center showing all of the damaging weather reports since Januray 1st:

That is just simply amazing.  The entire southeastern U.S., including Kentucky, has just been absolutely HAMMERED all year long.  There has been very little activity relative to average in "tornado alley". 

The bad news is, flooding isn't included on this map and there is a LOT of that going on right now too.  The GFS model isn't providing any relief...it's showing as much as 3 more inches of rainfall moving into the Ohio Valley late this weekend and into next week.  We really need to keep our neighbors along the river in our thoughts...they are going to have a really hard time in coming weeks.

May looks to calm down some over April (how could it not??).  But there will still be an active weather pattern in place.  Cool temperatures and frequent rainfall look to dominate the month. 

Take care and enjoy your Saturday...it's going to be a beauty!

-Shawn