AccuWeather meteorologists say heavy April downpours, not April showers, will continue in the Southeast. The second week of April began with most of the region experiencing warm, dry weather. The temperature in many cities went above normal on Easter Sunday (April 4). The above-normal warmth continued until midweek.
By April 6 (Tuesday), the high temperature in New Orleans and Nashville peaked at 81 degrees Fahrenheit. Nashville usually has a high of 68 degrees in early April. Charlotte, North Carolina, hit 86 on April 7 (Wednesday), 16 degrees above normal, while the temperature in Atlanta climbed to 81 degrees on the same day—10 degrees higher than average.
However, these high temperatures were expected to end soon. Cooler air accompanying a storm that led to severe weather over the Mississippi Valley on Wednesday night was predicted to lower the temperatures slightly but not enough to bring down the average for the latter part of the week.
Nashville’s temperature was expected to be no higher than the 70s during the afternoon of April 8 (Thursday) before spiking back into the lower 80s on Friday after a storm had moved past the city. However, temperatures in Atlanta weren’t expected to shoot above the 70s again in the future. It was predicted that New Orleans would barely be affected by the cooler trend as its temperatures would remain at or above 80 until Friday.
However, unfortunately, the Southeast was in store for more rain. AccuWeather Meteorologist Maura Kelly had said, “Another storm will track through on Friday and Saturday.” This second storm was likely to bring a heavier deluge and severe thunderstorms to the Southeast. The severe thunderstorms would bring damaging wind gusts and torrential downpours to the Southeast. About this, Kelly had said, “By Saturday, rainfall totals can reach as high 4-6 inches somewhere along the central Gulf Coast. Exactly where will depend on where the center of the second storm tracks.”
In March, Bristol, Tennessee, reported twice its normal precipitation, 7 inches, for the month. Toward March-end, the severe storms and heavy rain forced NASCAR to postpone multiple races. Nashville received 12.28 inches of precipitation, thrice its normal precipitation for March.
