April 2024 Weather in the PNW

[snow_wizard]

There is a May thread now.  Thank God April is over.

[TT-SEA]

4 hours ago, Meatyorologist said:

Ehhhh I was thinking that too, but the growth has definitely stunted over the last few weeks and it does look different than most growing seasons. And I do know what a normal Spring looks like here, I've lived in this house for fifteen years. Like I was saying to Randy, you and him live out in nature where shade keeps things more reliably moist year round. Not to mention you both live at least 500' higher than me and recieve more rain than I do. It might be a metro area exclusive issue.

You will see how it plays out when it warms up next week while still being significantly drier than normal.   I am sure those trees will fill out quickly regardless of rainfall.    Side note... our yard is completely sun exposed with no shade.

Spring of 2022 was also telling.  The trees here started leafing out in early April and then just slowed to a crawl all the way through May and never did totally finish.  I have never seen anything like it.   I think our big leaf maples ended up around 75% of normal leaf size that summer and they never looked right.    Lack of rain certainly was not the issue in April and May 2022.  It was very wet.   The problem was the unusual cold without the typical warm periods that happen in those months even when its colder than normal overall.  

 

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

9 hours ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

Takes some real skill to fit two completely contradictory ideas into the same sentence. Kudos!

Takes some real skill to fit so much air into 1 brain. Kudos to your mother!

[Cascadia_Wx]

Ended April with a chilly 52/42 day here. Moderate rain through the early afternoon then sunbreaks and scattered showers later on. Ended up with just shy of 2” precip for the month.

Looks like a +1.6 departure from normal for PDX on the month, about an inch below normal for precip. +1.2 departure for VUO and almost an inch below normal for precip as well.

[Phil]

11 hours ago, TT-SEA said:

Hey Chris... I said it was drier than normal.  Thanks for confirming.   The discussion started with trees spring growth being stunted right now due to dryness.  Not debating rainfall stats.  Let's see what happens when we have some warmer than normal temps again.  

And that was an off the rails post last night.    It's the truth.  Sorry to disappoint you but the truth is the truth.   And I won't be changing.  Not doing anything wrong.

How can trees’ leaves be stunted by cold when regional temp anomalies are exactly average over the last month?

The maturation of young, newly-emerged leaves requires a lot of water. In fact, trees use up more water stores during the spring months than at any other time of year.

March to mid-April was warmer than average but very dry here, and it definitely stunted the leaf-out relative to some cooler/wetter springs.

[TT-SEA]

15 minutes ago, Phil said:

How can trees’ leaves be stunted by cold when regional temp anomalies are exactly average over the last month?

The maturation of young, newly-emerged leaves requires a lot of water. In fact, trees use up more water stores during the spring months than at any other time of year.

March to mid-April was warmer than average but very dry here, and it definitely stunted the leaf-out relative to some cooler/wetter springs.

OMG... this such a pointless discussion.   I did not say anything was stunted.   I said its been a perfectly normal spring with a normal leaf out.    What I also said is that the trees usually go in spurts of spring growth with the warmer periods.    Pretty obvious to anyone who has ever experienced a spring at this latitude.   And regardless of rain... the trees that @Meatyorologist was talking about being stunted will fill out with the next warm period.   How is this even a debate?  

[Phil]

 

[TT-SEA]

1 hour ago, Phil said:

 

Wrong monthly thread.

[Frontal Snowsquall]

12 hours ago, snow_wizard said:

There is a May thread now.  Thank God April is over.

I’m glad April is over now too. It was a wet last 6 days to end the month. PDX finished 61.9% of average precipitation at the end.

[YahRaEl]