Not the wettest April ever, but we got more rain than normal
One big April shower on the month's last day dumped 1½ inches of rainfall on the Chicago area, bringing the region's total amount of precipitation last month to 5.31 inches.
That was enough moisture to make it the 20th wettest April for the Chicago area in the 152 years the National Weather Service has been keeping track. The average precipitation for the Chicago area in April is 3.75 inches, agency records dating back to 1871 show.
“It was above average for sure and that last day really put it over the top,” said Kevin Birk, a meteorologist at the weather service's Romeoville office. “But we had a couple big precipitation events this past month even before that last day.”
Those results were recorded at O'Hare International Airport, the area's primary weather station. Meteorologists say more moisture is expected throughout the first week of May as well.
Birk said a “La Nina” weather pattern along the equatorial portion of the Pacific Ocean is “steering the jet stream in a pattern that favors more storminess in the central part of the U.S.”
These weather patterns traditionally bring colder weather to the northern part of the globe and warmer weather to the south.
The excess moisture will make things difficult for farmers who have yet to plant crops, Birk said. April is traditionally the month corn and soy bean fields are planted, according to the Illinois Farm Bureau.
An overly wet April does not portend anything else for the rest of the year.
“We could see more weather patterns that could dry the ground out in a hurry,” Birk said. “There's nothing you can really glean from this that will impact the summer.”
The wetter than normal month also wreaked havoc on outdoor youth sports, with many practices and games canceled or rescheduled, organizers said.
“The interest is there, we're just not getting cooperation from the weather,” said Dave Peterson, executive director at the Dundee Township Park District. “We had to cancel an in-house golf tournament a couple weeks ago because it started snowing, and this was after we had more people sign up than ever before.”
The district's golf rounds are down by about 60% from last year, Peterson said, which he blamed on weather alone. Opening day of the spring youth soccer season was also canceled by district officials.
“It's just been an unseasonably cold, wet April, which has made a poor start to our spring,” he added.
This latest round of wet weather follows a March that saw 3.69 inches of precipitation, about an inch more than usual, weather service data shows.
In 2013, the Chicago area received 8.68 inches of precipitation in April, the most ever, weather service records indicate. More than six inches of moisture was recorded in April of both 2017 and 2019 as well.
The driest April ever was in 1899 when 0.14 inches of rainfall was recorded. But April 2021 also saw less than an inch of rain.