(WHSV) - The beginning of April was quite warm then a cooler and drier trend took over.

APRIL SHOWERS

A rainy view from Friday, April 28th.(Tony Alverson)

April showers bring may flowers is the saying, but until the last week of April showers had been lacking across our viewing area. We were experiencing a minor to moderate drought.

However, a low pressure system brought a soaking rain Friday, April 28th.

LOCATION	24-HOUR RAINFALL TOTAL
WAYNESBORO	1.56″
HARRISONBURG	1.32″
STAUNTON	1.12″
WEYERS CAVE	1.00″
NEW MARKET	0.99″
MOOREFIELD	0.74″
PETERSBURG	0.48″

And, another system brought more beneficial rain to round out the month on Sunday, April 30th.

Here's a look at some of the rainfall totals for today. Most areas were between 0.25-0.75" of needed rain with locally higher totals. pic.twitter.com/wW5zdjZypi
— Ben Beddoes (@WHSVBen) May 1, 2023

With these two rainy systems, several locations ended up with 2-3″ of rainfall by the end of the month. However, the average rainfall in Harrisonburg for April is 3.27″.

LOCATION	APRIL PRECIPITATION TOTAL
HARRISONBURG	2.66″
STAUNTON	2.68″
LURAY	2.99″
WAYNESBORO	3.90″
PETERSBURG	2.24″
BRIDGEWATER	2.40″

The drought monitor is updated every Thursday.

DROUGHT RESOURCES

Drought and Soil Moisture Data

FROST AND FREEZE

With a cooler temperature trend this month, there were a few nights of frost and freeze.

The average last freeze day has passed in Virginia, but not yet in West Virginia. There are also still a few weeks left until the average last frost days.

Average last freeze and frost around our area.(whsv)

Looking ahead to the first week of May, some frost days may be possible depending on if the wind lets up.

AURORA

On April 23rd, the Aurora (Northern Lights) was visible across our viewing area. This was actually not the first time this year the lights were visible. The other time was a month earlier on March 23rd.