WOAY-TV (Oak Hill, WV): With April finally here, we’ll finally see the weather stabilize a bit. Of course, the start of the month has been less than ideal with some severe weather. However, it’s not the first bout we saw this year. Meteorologist Christian Boteler recaps the up-and-down weather of March:
HOW WAS IT?: The weather was hot and dry for most of the month, as March ended with above average temperatures and below average precipitation compared to previous years. The low rainfall totals and warmth led to an increased fire risk and a few brush fires burning through the month. Make sure to follow the statewide burn ban from 7am from 5pm and to put out nighttime camping or bonfires.
Severe weather was not prevalent, but did happen on a few days where the sparse precipitation fell, kicking off the severe weather season as a whole. Not much snow fell across the area, which may spell winter’s end. However, there is potential for winter’s last gasp in the middle of April.
DAILY TEMPERATURES: The pattern for this month was plenty of warm temperatures followed by a massive drop after one of many systems came through the area. Despite some dips into the 40s and 50s, temperatures mostly staying towards 60° or higher led to the month to be vastly above average.
Warmer temperatures even broke records in some cases. Beckley’s record high on the 19th was tied at 79°, Lewisburg tied a record high on the 21st at 80°, and Snowshoe broke their record high for the 20th with a high of 70°. These are all daily records for their respective dates.
SEVERE WEATHER: Two days within the last month had some severe weather. The 16th and 31st both saw Severe Thunderstorm Watches and Warnings, while the 16th also saw a Tornado Watch. However, April is priming itself to have some more severe weather days, including the 3rd.
