US struck with more than 100 tornadoes, heavy snow in April

April continued the year’s warm streak, with 2024 ranking as the fifth-warmest year on record for the nation so far.

The month also saw a lot of active weather, with more than 100 tornadoes and a powerful winter storm hitting parts of the U.S., according to scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.

Below are more takeaways from NOAA’s latest monthly U.S. climate report:

Climate by the numbers

April 2024

The average April temperature across the contiguous U.S. was 53.8°F (2.7° above the 20th-century average), ranking as 12th-warmest in NOAA’s 130-year climate record. Virginia and West Virginia had their fifth-warmest Aprils on record while Kentucky, Maryland and Ohio each saw their top-10 warmest Aprils on record.

The average precipitation for the month was 2.77 inches—0.25 of an inch above average, which places the month in the wettest third of the historical record. Indiana and Pennsylvania had their fifth-wettest April on record, with South Dakota seeing a top-10 wettest April.

Year to date (January through April 2024)

The average U.S. temperature for the year to date (YTD) was 43.0°F (3.8° above average), ranking in the 5th-warmest such YTD in the climate record.

Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Wisconsin each saw their second-warmest January–April period. An additional 22 states had a January–April YTD that ranked in the top-10 warmest.

The average precipitation for the first four months of 2024 was 10.95 inches (1.48 inches above normal), ranking as the 11th-wettest YTD on record. Pennsylvania saw its second-wettest such YTD period on record. Six additional states ranked among their top-10 wettest January–April on record for this year-to-date period.

Other notable climate events

• An active severe weather month: A severe weather outbreak produced more than 100 tornadoes, including one EF-4, across the Midwest and Great Plains from April 25 to April 28. The outbreak caused significant damage, loss of life and became the worst tornado outbreak for the year so far. On April 26, the severe weather resulted in the National Weather Service in Omaha, Nebraska, issuing 48 tornado warnings—the most the office has ever issued in a single day.
• Heavy spring snow buried the Northeast: During early April, a spring snowstorm brought heavy snow and powerful winds to much of New England, downing trees and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands in the region.
• Seven separate billion-dollar disasters have struck this year: There were five new billion-dollar weather and climate disasters confirmed last month, including three severe storm events that impacted the central, southern and eastern U.S. in mid-February and early April. There were also two winter storms that impacted the northwest and central U.S. in mid-January.

In total, there have been seven confirmed weather and climate disaster events this year, each with losses exceeding $1 billion. These disasters consisted of five severe storm events and two winter storms.