In the Cleveland area, the Month of March heralded the beginning of spring, however, April usually brings the first extended run of spring-like weather to our part of the country. Traditionally, April has been called the month of fools. In Ohio, it more than lives up to this dubious designation.
In Ohio, April can bring some of the most beautiful, and violent, of all weather. As was the case in March, April is still a battleground as winter will commonly still try and strike one last, dying blow at us this month. Generally speaking, once we make it past the mid way point of the month, chances for snow storms decrease dramatically. However, with the threat of snow gone, comes the possibility for thunderstorms and even tornadoes, which will continue until the arrival of the lazy, hazy days of summer, which arrive in June.
The good news with April storms is that, unlike those that come through (and often park themselves over us) in November through March, April storm systems are often very fast moving. One can literally go from clear, to stormy, and back to clear in the course of an hour. Basically, look for the week-long run of cloudy days and nights to be a thing of the past by month's end.
On the good side of the coin, April will bring the first consistently warm, as in no coat required, daytime temperatures as well as long spells of high-pressure, cloud-free skies. As even better news, as warmer temperatures become more routine, those blustery warm fronts that gave us brief thaws in earlier months won't be so windy anymore thanks to shifting weather patterns. For astronomers, April is undoubtedly the month for dusting off the telescopes, cameras, and other gear that has laid idle for the duration of winter. As was the case in March, the average highs and lows will rise by over 10 degrees during the course of the month, but that still doesn't mean that April nights can't be bitterly cold.
In the end, though, it is April, which means that it is the month of fools. Extreme temperature/weather changes are still possible, so don't get to thinking it's summer just yet. The good news is that, come May, more stable weather patterns will be coming to Northeast Ohio.
As the last part of the puzzle, be sure to keep an eye on the Cleveland weather forecast and, for hour-by-hour cloud predictions, the Cleveland Clear Sky Clock if you plan to head out and look at the stars this coming week. Live somewhere else? Find a clock and see if it will be clear near you.
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