Peter Finlayson, Ormstown Weatherman
The month of April turned out to be cool and dry, the 12th coldest April in the last 53 years. The average temperature was 5.0 degrees Celsius, while the normal is 6.5 degrees.
Along with the cool temperatures – very few leaves out on the trees yet – the amount of precipitation was about 40% less than normal with only 54 mm, or 2 inches.
Very little rain has fallen in the last two weeks, making conditions almost ideal for planting crops but now the soil is drying out (we’ve had lots of wind) and moisture is becoming an issue for germination.
The first few days of May were much the same with only 0.6 mm of rain on Saturday night, and the average temperature so far is 12.1 degrees, down from the normal at 14.3 degrees for May.
The forecast for May continues to follow the trend for April, with cooler than normal temperatures and no substantial rain anticipated until the third week of the month.