April 2011 Summary

Summary:
April 2011 will be best remembered for being a warm, very dry month with a good deal of sunshine.

Temperature: Minimum:
The coldest night of April 2011 was that of the 3rd/4th when the temperature fell to 5.1 degs C. It was thus the first month when the temperature did not drop below 5 degs C since September 2010, and the first time ever in any April at this location*.
The highest minimum [12.2 degs C] was recorded on the night of the 21st/22nd, and was the mildest night since that of 4th/5th November 2010. This equalled the mildest night of April 2010, and was otherwise only exceeded in April in 2007*.
The average for the month was 8.78 degs C, the highest ever recorded for April here*. Previously 2007 held that honour with 8.65 degs C.

Temperature: Maximum:
Daytime temperatures for April 2011 ranged from 13.7 on the 13th, to 21.5 on the 25th, which was the equal warmest ever April day at this location* [along with 28th April 2010].
The average for the month was 16.93 degs C, which was the highest ever recorded in April here* and as with minimum temperatures, this beat 2007 [with it's 16.78 degs] into second place.
The 25th however, was the only day that temperatures exceeded 20 degs C in April 2011, equal to 2006 and 2007, but lagging slightly behind 2010 when it did so twice.
Despite these record readings, it is clear that Falmouth did not enjoy the much higher temperatures experienced in many other parts of the UK during the month.

Rainfall:
The total rainfall for the month was just 11.1 mm, less than half of that of March, which was itself a very dry month with 22.7 mm. This compares to last April, 2010, when 34.3 mm of rain fell, and 140.3 mm in April 2009!
The 5th was the wettest day of April 2011 with 6.2 mm, and the only other day when more than 1 mm fell was the 13th with 3.5.
There were at least 21 totally dry days, equal to April 2010 and two more than March 2011. No rain fell between the 6th and the 12th, and only 0.5 mm fell after the 14th. Even the 29th, when thunder could be heard for several hours during the evening, remained totally dry.

Thunder:
As previously stated, thunder was heard for several hours during the evening of the 29th.

* - Since at least 2004.