REVIEWING APRIL 2007 WEATHER & PHENOLOGY

From the North Shores of Little Rock Lake

Jim Hovda, Rice MN  56367-0265     jhovda.rice@jumo.com

CAPSULE OF LAST APRIL:       Average temps were cooler by nearly six degrees for both lows and highs.  Temps ranged from 20.4 to 77.9 degrees. Precipitation was spread out evenly during the month with 2.99" of rain on the last three days of the month.  There was no SNOW in April...   I mowed my lawn the first time on the 26th!

CAPSULE OF THIS APRIL:       The first ten days of the month - COLD -  Low temps mostly in the single digits and the highs in the 30's.  Snow totaled seven inches the 10th when the last 1.2" fell.   The second half of the month warmer than normal and we received over one inch of rain.

WEATHER:       The coldest day was on the 4th when the thermometer dipped to a chilly 6.8 degrees.  Wind chills were in the -0 readings. The warmest day was on the 29th with a balmy 86.5 degrees.  Eleven days saw temps in the 60's,  five days in the 70's and our one 80 day was on the 29th.  The average low was 29.24  and the high was 57.57 degrees.  The "white stuff" department saw seven inches of snow fall in April.  In 2004 when we received nine inches of snow was the only April that came close.  I only have records going back ten years which is not much to compare to.   The rest of the month was all rain. Total precipitation for the month totaled 2.30".  Very welcome rain from the 19th to the 22nd totaled 1.31".  The remainder of the month, DRY.  The most snow fell on the 3rd with 4.2" on the ground and a good rain on the 22nd produced no less than 1.05" of precipitation.  Eleven days saw some form of precipitation.   Total snow for the season stands at 39" and total precipitation this year is at 7.75".   North of Monticello it is still very dry with Northern MN extremely dry.  Having just returned from Lake of the Woods I estimated that the lake was at least two feet low.

WEATHER RECORDS:       Our area record cold (still not out of the minus dept yet) was -3 degrees in 1975.  In Out state MN it was -22 in none other than Tower.  On the warm side the St. Cloud weather folks reported a 96 degree reading in 1980 while a temp of 101 was attained at Hawley in 1980.  (Same day?)  The most precipitation here in April was 8.42" in 2001. (That was the year of one of our really high lake levels that caused a lot of concern.)    The most snowfall for April was 11.1" in 1950.

PHENOLOGY:       ICE OUT - LITTLE ROCK LAKE OCCURRED ON THE 1st OF APRIL.    There were a couple of days that the lake froze over at night but opened up late the next day during the first part of the month.    The Seviola family were the first to launch their dock in the lake on the 14th. 

       The appearance of the Sharp-shinned Hawk on numerous occasions was the most noteworthy bird observation.   Jan and I were able to determine that there was not just one, but a pair of them.  On most occasions small birds became victims of this very fast flying hawk.  HOWEVER, on the 7th one of the hawks did battle with one of our windows and became a victim too.  K.I.A. in pursuit of a meal.  Yes, we have sympathy for the song birds that fall victim to birds of prey.  However, the hawks present their own beauty in flight and appearance too.  It's all in Gods plan.

          Other birds - The 2nd of April lots of snow, bitter cold with lots of wind and over one hundred Robins all trying to get food from the Rhododendron bush that was filled with it's black berries.  The berries on that bush stay all winter just waiting for hungry birds who need the food to survive the cold.  At the bird feeder over thirty Red-winged Blackbirds were competing for seeds along with well over one hundred Juncos who were there too.  On the 15th the Brown-headed Cow Birds arrived, on the 16th the first Brown Bat made its home in my bat house, the first Wood Ducks were observed sitting on the roof of one of their houses in my front yard on the 19th, on the 20th the Purple Martin scouts were checking out my martin houses, on the 22nd the Tree Swallows were soaring over Little Rock lake and by the end of the month more Purple Martins. 

          The 8th ushered in the falling of the Red Oak Leaves, a sure sign of spring.  On the 13th the Christmas Cactus started blooming, the 14th I observed the first Painted Turtles sunning themselves on a log in Little Rock Creek,   Crocus' were blooming on the 18th,   grass really starts turning green on the 23rd, the DREADED WOOD TICK   found my neck on the 26th, Daffodils and Tulips were in bloom on the 28th and I saw my first bumble bee on the 30th.  Spring is a really fun time for weather and "critter" observations.

RESIDENT OBSERVATIONS:       My good friend Dr. Ray Merritt PhD (AKA the professor) sent me this observation:  On the 5th of April with the wind chill below zero up thru the snow comes the bright green leaves of our Sedum Plants.  Hardy fellows who know it is spring.   The Juncos, still abundant.   Vince and his daughter Maykenna observed five American Woodcocks on North Freedom Rd.   The first report of them I have received.  Jim Wainright discovered a flying squirrel in one of his bird houses and observed his first bat flying in the evening on the 16th, Jeff Soderholm said "being at the lake is like being in Wild Kingdom with all the bird sounds that are so nice to hear."  My wife Jan observed a Red Admiral butterfly on the 26th.

W & P FROM IRAQ By Staff Sergeant Sam Williams from Alexandria, MN:   (April)   Only a couple of storms that dumped about 1/2 inch of rain each.  Williams said "The first storm on the 11th, was leaving our area when one of the soldiers spotted the first rainbow of the year.  We were running around like little kids all excited telling other soldiers to come outside to see the rainbow."  Warmer weather brings more "dust devils" to the area.   These "dust devils are quite large,  20 or so feet across at the base and 300 - 400 feet high.    Birds are busy with their chicks, the first crickets are appearing.  Soon to come are the lizards and birds hunting for meals in the evening.   Temps are starting to top the 100 degree mark with warmer weather to follow. 

BIRD OBSERVATION INFO:        For those of you who are interested in observing Peregrine Falcons you can observe them flying and capturing mostly pigeons from a nesting box at the top of the tower in the Prison.   These spectacular birds dive at speeds of over 200 mph to kill and capture their prey.   The prison is located next to highway #10 just east of St. Cloud.   Many folks observe the falcons from the highway just to the east of the prison.  Parking on U.S. #10 is not a good idea.  The nesting box was built several years ago.  Construction and installation was accomplished by Randy Fernholz, Ben Balozen, Dave Schmidt, Tony Rentz and Curly Gohman.  (I hope I got them all correct)  Complements to state officials who allowed this project to come to pass.