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Wednesday, May 15, 2002

April continues months long trend of dry, warm conditions in the region

Only .21 inches of precipitation was recorded at the Technical Area 6 measuring station in Los Alamos last month, as persistent drought conditions continue, said Laboratory meteorologist Scot Johnson of Meteorology and Air Quality (RRES-MAQ).

Normal precipitation in Los Alamos in April is slightly more than one inch, so April's scant total was only 20 percent of normal, said Johnson.

Likewise in White Rock, .25 inches of precipitation was recorded at the Technical Area 54 measuring station in April. Johnson said the total is about 36 percent of normal for the month. No measurable snowfall was recorded in either Los Alamos or White Rock last month, though about 5 inches of snow normally falls in April, said Johnson.

The continued lack of precipitation means Los Alamos is in one of the strongest droughts in its history, with only one clearly more severe droughts occurring in the mid 1950s, said Johnson.

Los Alamos' mean temperature in April was 53 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 7 degrees above normal, said Johnson. The mean maximum and minimum temperatures also were well above normal, he said.

Several temperature records were established in Los Alamos in April; highs of 72 F on April 2 and 75 F on April 14 set maximum records for those dates. Highest daily minimum temperatures of 54 F on April 1 and 53 F on April 15 also were records, said Johnson.

It was much the same in White Rock, with the mean maximum temperature of 72 F some 9 F above normal. The mean and mean minimum temperatures also were above normal. And six high temperature records were set in April in White Rock, including an 81-degree-mark on April 14, 23 and 24, said Johnson.

Wind gusts exceeding 40 miles per hour were recorded on April 15, 16, 20, 26, 27, 29 and 30 in Los Alamos.

Wind gusts above 40 miles per hour were recorded April 10, 15, 16, 17, 20 and 26 in White Rock.

--Steve Sandoval

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