April's Wide Range Of Weather: Tornadoes And Snow To Temperature Changes And Tropical Storms

April Is Typically A Big Month of Weather Changes

April's weather can have a slew of different personalities given it's right in the heart of early spring.

Tornadoes most often come to mind when thinking about the month, but it also packs late-season snowfall, occasional tropical storms and temperature changes.

1. A Notorious Month For Tornadoes

-Big Picture: The tornado threat is highest from southern Kansas, Oklahoma and northern Texas eastward into parts of Alabama. But most areas elsewhere in the Midwest, Plains and South also have a heightened threat of tornadoes.

Tornado outbreaks often occur when a low-pressure system accompanied by a strong, southward plunge in the jet stream punches into the Plains, Midwest or South, pulling warm and humid air northward from the Gulf.

It's not just tornadoes – the storms can also produce destructive hail, wind damage and flooding rainfall.

-Deeper Dive: April has averaged 202 tornadoes from 2004 to 2023, making it the second most tornadic month of the year behind May.

Last April was the second most active on record with 356 tornadoes, still far behind 2011, which had 758 twisters.

But in some Aprils, the setup for tornadoes doesn't come together as often. 2021 is a good example since it produced just 78 tornadoes.

(MORE: April Starts The Most Dangerous Time For Tornadoes)

2. Winter's Leftovers Can Also Appear

-Big Picture: April is when the average last snow of the season (0.1 inches or greater) occurs from northern New England and parts of the interior Northeast to the Great Lakes, upper Midwest and Northern Plains. That includes Minneapolis/St. Paul, Detroit and Burlington, Vermont.

Some cities in the West also see their average last measurable snow in the month, including Denver and Salt Lake City.

-Deeper Dive: Since late-season snowfall is often wet and heavy, it can be a concern for causing tree damage and power outages.

Early last April featured a winter storm that brought heavy snow which, in combination with strong winds, downed trees and knocked out power in parts of several states, from Wisconsin and northern Michigan to upstate New York and northern New England.

3. Tropical Storms Can Form On Rare Occasions

-Big Picture: Although the Atlantic hurricane season officially begins June 1, tropical or subtropical cyclones sometimes develop before then.

Two tropical storms have developed in the Atlantic in April dating back to 1851. Both of those were this century, with Ana forming in 2003 and Arlene in 2017 over the open Atlantic waters. Prior to this century, the Atlantic spawned three tropical depressions and an unnamed subtropical storm in April.

There are no Atlantic hurricanes on record during April.

-Deeper Dive: Conditions are often not favorable for tropical development as soon as April. That's because of strong upper-level winds and the fact that warm water temperatures aren't widespread enough to support development like in summer. Tropical waves, which are the seedlings that spawn some tropical storms, don't emerge from Africa this soon either.

On rare occasions, an area of low pressure with the right environmental conditions emerging over warm enough waters can help spawn a tropical or subtropical depression or storm.

4. Rising Temperatures To Look Forward To

-Big Picture: From the beginning to the end of the month, many locations experience a noticeable jump in average temperatures. That said, morning temperatures are still chilly for most of the Lower 48.

By the end of April, the South, mid-Atlantic, Northeast coast, Ohio Valley and parts of the Central Plains have generally experienced their last freeze of the season. Much of the interior Northeast, upper Midwest and mountain West wait until mid-May or later to see the last freeze.

-Deeper Dive: New York City sees its average high rise from 56 degrees on April 1 to 67 on April 30.

The average high in Minneapolis increases from 50 degrees to start the month to 63 to close it out. Average lows here also rise from the lower 30s to the mid-40s during April.

In Dallas-Fort Worth, average highs increase from 73 to 79 degrees. Phoenix is sweating by the end of the month with an average high of 89 degrees compared to 82 on April Fools' Day.

(MORE: When To Expect The Final Freeze)

Chris Dolce has been a senior digital meteorologist with weather.com for nearly 15 years after beginning his career with The Weather Channel in the early 2000s.