Submitted by Bill Caulfeild-Browne
After a first quarter of the year which was roughly three degrees above normal, we paid the price in April. The mean temperature was nearly a degree below normal. The first few days were actually cooler than March had been. The high for the month was 12.4C, which is fairly usual and the low was -5.6C which is also typical. But it was a windy month which made it feel colder than it was.
The highest winds occurred on the 13th and 14th, gusting to 70 kms/hr and causing power outages and snow, especially over the high ground to the south of us. More important to us was the effect on lake levels; already high, the gale forced water well up the shorelines on the Lake Huron side of the peninsula and over the edge of Little Tub Harbour. At one point it was only a few metres away from Craigie’s and much of Lee’s Fishery was inundated.
It was a dry month until the very end. Only 10 mm. had fallen before a major storm on the 29th and 30th. Those two days yielded 40 mm., thus bringing the total for the month to just 15 mm. short of average.
Compensating us for the storms and the cold was the sunshine. It was by far the sunniest April I have recorded. There were only three days with virtually no sun and five that would qualify as partly sunny. The other 22 were pretty much clear from dawn until dusk.
May has started out very cool for the time of year. The infamous polar vortex looks to dominate our weather for the next few weeks, with some frosty nights in store. Let’s hope it warms up once the Covid 19 restrictions are eased.
Until then, stay warm and safe.
