• April air temperature averaged at 16.7°C
• Just over 253 hours of sunshine recorded in April
• A total of 18mm of precipitation measured; 17mm collected in a day

A look at meteorological records for April shows that last month was warmer, sunnier, and drier than expected at this time of year.

During the month, the air temperature ranged between a minimum of 9.7°C – recorded on three separate days within the first two weeks – and a pleasant maximum of 25.6°C reached on the 28th of April. Averaging at 16.7°C, April’s mean air temperature was 0.6°C higher than the 30-year climate norm. On the other hand, the mean sea temperature for the month was 1.1°C higher than the norm of 16.1°C.

Skies were slightly less cloudy than expected at this time of year, with the mean cloud cover for the month being 0.2 oktas lighter than the norm of 3.7 oktas.

The second month of spring was brightened by 253.3 hours of sunshine, going over the climate norm by almost 5 hours. In April, the islands were treated to an average of 8.4 hours of daily sunshine, with the 30th of April becoming last month’s sunniest day after having clocked up 12.9 hours of sunshine.

On the other hand, the 3rd of April was the dullest day of the month with no sunshine recorded. On the day, the month’s strongest wind gust, blowing at 31 knots from a north by east direction, was measured. In general, April was calmer than anticipated, with the wind maintaining a mean speed of 8.4 knots throughout the month rather than the expected 9.5 knots.

This windswept and gloomy day was followed by the month’s wettest day, on which 17mm of precipitation were collected. The total rainfall for the month amounted to 18mm, falling 2.8mm short of measuring up to the climate norm for April.

While two thunderstorms are usually reported in April, no thunderstorms were reported last month.