The weather this April has certainly been interesting with plenty of warmth and precipitation. The featured chart compares April growing degree day departures with precipitation departures for April over a statewide areal average computed by the IEM. The departures are expressed in units of standard deviation to allow a normalized comparison between the two variables. The 2026 combination stands out for being both anomalously warm and wet, while also being counter trend which favors reduced precipitation with increasing temperature. The last two days of April will be on the cooler and drier side of average, so the 2026 will value will be pulled marginally back to the middle if you generate this plot once April completes!

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