Pennsylvania Weather Review: April 2026
Pennsylvania Weather Review:
April 2026
Like March, April featured plenty of ups and downs. Temperatures trended warmer than average but dipped by the end of the month. A strong persistent precipitation pattern continued, deepening drought for parts of the state. Read on for the in depth review of April 2026.
April Highlights
The month got off to a busy start with many locations breaking the record daily high temperature on the first day of the month. The high of 84° in Philadelphia broke the record by 3 degrees. It wouldn't be long until more records were broken with warmth shattering records on the 4th. Erie crushed the nearly 100 year old daily record high temperature by 6 degrees! Along with the warmth came showers in central parts of the state.
 |
| Record high temperatures for April 4th compared to the high temperatures on April 4, 2026. |
Following the warmth on the 4th temperatures, conditions turned cool and windy for Easter on the 5th. Temperatures were 20° to nearly 40° colder compared to 24 hours prior on the afternoon of the 5th. Rain & snow showers on the 6th brought light snow accumulations into the morning of the 7th in portions of northern Pennsylvania and higher elevations. The first of many Freeze Warnings came on the 8th. Temperatures dipped as low as the teens across northern Pennsylvania.
 |
| Low temperatures observed on the morning of April 8, 2026. Source. |
Showers brought a light accumulation of rain on the 10th. Temperatures in southwest Pennsylvania reached 80° on the 12th but this was only the beginning. Temperatures climbed with all of Pennsylvania climbing into the 70s & 80s on the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th. Philadelphia reached 91° on both the 15th and 16th marking the 4th earliest 90° day on record. Williamsport also hit 90° on the 16th, the second earliest 90° day. Many daily record daily high temperatures and record daily warm low temperatures were broken during this period.
 |
| High temperatures ending at 8am on April 16th (left), and April 17th (right). Source. |
The warmth also brought rounds of thunderstorms. Storms on the 14th brought showers & storms to western Pennsylvania. More storms followed on the 15th in northern parts bringing wind damage and large hail as large as 1.75" in diameter. Some heavy rain was observed over Mercer and Venango Counties where over 1.5" fell. Yet another round of storm on the 16th brought significant wind damage once again to northern Pennsylvania.
 |
| Warnings and storm reports for April 14-16, 2026. Source. |
A front on the 18th brought showers sweeping across the state with much of western and central parts of the state recording over half an inch of precipitation. Some isolated spots received 1.00" to more than 1.50". Once again the area of deepest drought conditions were left with little accumulations. Behind this front, temperatures took a tumble.
 |
| Total Precipitation for April 18-19, 2026. Source. |
The 19th brought scattered showers with wet snow flakes mixing in in some of the colder locations. Freeze Warnings were posted on the mornings of the 20th and 21st with the growing season starting much earlier than average. Some isolated spots saw accumulating snow on the morning of the 20th. Low temperatures on the 21st were some of the coldest temperatures observed this late in the season for many locations.
 |
| Record low temperatures on April 21. For many locations the low temperature on April 21, 2026, was one of the coldest temperatures recorded this late in the season. |
Conditions were calm for the 22nd through 24th which was welcomed news for the first 2 days of the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh on the 23rd and 24th. It turned cooler and rainy on the 25th for the final day of the Draft and Blue White Weekend at Penn State. Parts of eastern Pennsylvania recorded a much needed 1.00"+ of precipitation.
 |
| Total precipitation ending 8am on April 26, 2026. Source. |
The rest of the month would remain cool, damp and dreary. Most days featured cloudy sky with scattered showers. The 29th featured the most widespread precipitation during the last few days of the month with moderate to heavy stratiform rain crossing the state. Some rumbles of thunder were embedded in the heaviest downpours.
 |
| Total precipitation ending 8am on April 30, 2026. Source. |
April Statistics
 |
| Table summarizing temperature and precipitation for April 2026 compared to average. |
April 2026 was quite warm across Pennsylvania with temperatures more than 4.0° warmer than average especially across western and central Pennsylvania. It was the warmest April on record for Pittsburgh. Northwest PA remained wet and southwest PA remained dry with drought holding tough there.
 |
| Average temperature for April 2026 ranking and warmest April since. |
All of Pennsylvania recorded a top 10 warmest April on record. It was the 3rd warmest on record in Erie, the warmest in over 100 years! Altoona and Philadelphia have recorded a record number of 80°+ days year to date through the end of April.
 |
| Table summarizing the # of days >= 80° YTD through April 30. |
Drought Watch
 |
| Pennsylvania Drought Monitor as of April 28, 2026. Source. |
Precipitation during the month of April was very contrasting with a very sharp gradient between above and below average. This continued to deepen the drought in southern and eastern Pennsylvania during April while the Abnormally Dry conditions to the north and west improved.
|
|
Webcam Image of the Month
A picturesque thunderstorm rolled through southwestern and south central Pennsylvania on April 14th with this stunning shot of the shelf cloud from the new PEMN (PA Environmental Monitoring Network) site in Everett, Bedford County. Check out more webcam images of the thunderstorms that evening here.
 |
| The PEMN observation site webcam in Everett captured this thunderstorm as it approached around 7:20pm on April 14, 2026. Source. |
Spring Views
It isn't just the leaves. Flowers bloomed earlier than average and the birds are arriving early on their migrations as a consequence of the early warmth. This became a problem when temperatures turned near to below average with numerous freeze and frosts hitting the fragile plants as the growing season started early. Hopefully the impacts have been minimal.
Wrapping Up & Looking Ahead
April felt a bit calmer than March but now that the calendar has turned to May I'm sure that the severe weather will be back soon. This is always a busy time of year for me but I do have a blog post that I look forward to posting in the near future. Until then keep an eye to the sky!
As always, remember to look up!
Comments
Post a Comment