Star Date 16 April 2018 Monday
Happy Monday...although not that happy if you like Spring weather and or you have to pay your taxes today. :(
A powerful storm moved through the Midwest this past weekend bringing blizzard like conditions to the Plains and Midwest with all sorts of traffic headaches and accidents along the major East-West Interstates. If your mail is delayed a bit, blame this storm. Out ahead of the very strong cold front temperatures surged to record warm Friday and Saturday in the East but then plummeted again on Sunday. CLICK ON IMAGES FOR LARGER VIEW.
Here at wt360 Bethlehem PA we went from a record low of 24F on the 11th to a record high of 87F on the 14th and then 30s with sleet, rain and wind on the 15th. A roller coaster ride with a cold 10 days ahead but then hope for a warming trend.
The front is sweeping off the East Coast which will make this 3rd week of April the coldest in 40+ years for the U.S. overall. April has been a lion to say the least with U.S. snowfall up +457% over last year (+122% above average) and the most in 21 years for the first 15 days of the month! U.S. Snow Cover this morning is a whopping 24%, a wholesale change from this time a year ago when only 6% had snow on the ground (10% is more typical). So far April has been the coldest in 11 years, snowiest in 21 years and wettest in 25 years for the U.S. overall.
This week(16-22 April) is brutal for the U.S. overall trending coldest in 40+ years and snowiest in 5 years...yes, yet another snow storm of the Central U.S. midweek.
The impact on retail seasonal sales will be staggering as every 1F colder year over year brings a 3% decline in apparel and sandal sales, 2% decline in beverage sales, 10% decline in AC/Fan sales, 7% decline in bedding plant sales, etc. With U.S. temperatures trending 10 degrees colder than last year (that's a near record YOY drop in temps) the results for seasonal sales are BAD - AC/Fan sale down at least 80%, Apparel and Sandals sales down 30%, Cold Beverage categories down 10% to 20% and garden bedding flower sales down a whopping 70%! A bad week...but there is hope on the horizon!
Next week (23-29 April) hopefully the sign of a pattern change with milder conditions for late April into a warmer May! The weather is far less extreme with conditions similar to last year with slightly above average temperatures and drier than average conditions for the U.S. overall. It will remain cooler than average in the Southeastern U.S. but a nationwide warm up looks to take shape late month. We still think May will be the warmest in 3 years for the U.S. overall with an active tornado/severe weather month.
A big THANK YOU to wt360 VP Client Services Krissy Klinger who spent her Saturday day off at Millersville University Public Weather Awareness Day INSIDE! :( It was a near record hot Saturday after such a horrible cold/snowy Spring so kind of sad to spend that inside. But, she met a lot of great folks and kids talking about what we do here at Weather Trends International. :) Thank you Krissy!
We hope you have a great week. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and look for several weekly YouTube videos as we expand our weekly content.
- Captain Kirk out.