Warm April for the Almanor basin

By Dale Knutsen

Special to Plumas News

Temperatures in the Lake Almanor basin were definitely on the warm side during the month of April. Our average low was nearly 2 degrees warmer than the long-term figure, while our daily average high was 4.5 degrees warmer. But we didn’t set any records, with a peak temperature of 77 degrees on April 29th at the Chester airport.

The precipitation story is mixed. The good news is that we had greater than average monthly snowfall, with the west shore receiving 8.5 inches early in the month. That brought our seasonal snowfall total to 135.5 inches, or 107 percent of average.

Unfortunately, our total precipitation figure isn’t so cheery. Between the water content of the snowfall and some rain, we added 1.70 inches of water during the month. That brought our accumulated total precipitation for the July-June season to 18.56 inches at the Prattville site, or only 63 percent of the long-term average. That’s pretty much in line with similar measurements across our region.

Our typical weather pattern from May onward through the warm months is for relatively dry conditions. We can expect vegetation to dry out fairly rapidly now, leading to the usual cautions about being mindful of ignition sources that could start a major fire. Please be extra careful with anything that produces flame, sparks or high heat (e.g., catalytic converters).