US April 2019 Outlook

Written by Mark Vogan on March 26, 2019 in United States of America with 0 Comments

In the wake of the wettest winter on record, it’s been a cold, stormy March for much of the US Lower 48. Coldest on record for parts of the Northern Rockies.

Credit: Michael Ventrice

Following a record low pressure system which delivered cold, wind, snow, white out conditions, flooding rain and severe weather, an historic flood event followed an is likely to exceed $1.3 billion in damages as inland seas have cut off parts of Nebraska and Iowa to the rest of the US.

The conga line of storms which have slammed California since late January has taken the Golden State out of a drought entirely for the first time in over 7 years. As you can see from the below graphic, the drought peaked just last October.

For the West as a whole, drought has decreased from 53% back on January 15th to just 13% as of March 12th.

Will April follow in March’s cold and stormy footsteps?

The next 10 days shall see cold but the pattern reverses quite dramatically into week 2 of April and it would appear winter is over from then on.

Here’s the CFSv2 weekly 500mb height anomalies and notice the trough becomes a ridge over the Great Lakes and East and remains that way throughout April.