Last month ended up in the top five among wettest Aprils and top 10 for wettest overall months. That was due in part to flooding early in the month resulting in the fifth wettest day on record, damage to several roads, a railroad bridge being washed out and two fatalities due to drowning.
With more than 2 1/4 of precipitation already recorded the previous two days at KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot, the official reporting station for the National Weather Service in Mountain Home, the rains became even heavier beginning on the afternoon of April 4. The next morning at 7, a total of 5.61 inches of precipitation was measured for the previous 24-hour period, breaking the previous record for April 5 of 2.66 inches in 1936 and ending up with the fifth highest rainfall measurement recorded for one full day. The wettest day on record was Sept. 4, 1985, when 8.95 inches of rain were measured.
Nearly 2 1/4 additional inches of rain were recorded the next day. The rain forced several roads to be closed throughout north central Arkansas and southern Missouri for multiple days, and some remain shut down until repairs can be made. In addition, the water washed out and destroyed a railroad bridge in Mammoth Spring.
In West Plains, two vehicles were swept away in two separate incidents nearly 20 minutes apart on the evening of April 4. Both male drivers attempted to exit their vehicles, and they were later pronounced dead after their bodies were recovered from the water.
Last month ended up as the third wettest April on record and the seventh wettest month overall with a total of 14.73 inches. The wettest month in recorded history was April 1927 at 16.87 inches.
Last month’s rainfall was also 9.13 inches above April’s average of 5.6. The total precipitation for this year’s first four months is 23.49 inches, 6.3 above the period’s average of 17.19 inches.
The warmest temperature recorded last month was 87 degrees on April 14, and the coolest was 35 on April 8 and 9. The average high for April was 69.9 degrees, and the average low was 46.9.
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