Warmer, drier than usual Tri-City April forecast

Expect another warmer than usual month in the Tri-Cities as April gets off to a warmer than usual start, says the National Weather Service.

Normal highs for April in the Tri-Cities rise from 63 degrees at the start of the month to 70 degrees at the end of the month. Lows rise from 40 degrees to 45 degrees.

The month is forecast to start with highs in the low to mid-70s and lows in the mid to upper 40s through the weekend, according to the weather service.

The streak of warmer than normal months continued in March, making it the fourth month in a row to record an average temperature for the month that is warmer than usual.

No daily temperature records were set in March, according to the Hanford Meteorological Service, which keeps daily records back to 1944.

The average temperature in the Tri-Cities was 2.2 degrees above normal. High temperatures averaged 60.1 degrees, with the temperature hitting 70 degrees for the first time this year on the last day of the month.

Lows averaged 39.2 degrees, with the coldest temperature, 32 degrees, recorded on March 18 and 19.

April could be a little drier than usual, according to the weather service. Normal precipitation for April in the Tri-Cities is 0.56 inch.

If you thought March seemed unusually rainy, you were correct.

Precipitation for the month, as measured in Kennewick, totaled 1.1 inches, which was 0.37 inch above usual. At least a trace of rain feel on 16 days, with 0.35 inch measured on March 6.

The rainy month brought precipitation for the year in the Tri-Cities to 2.85 inches, which is 0.26 inch above normal.

The windiest day of March, as measured in Kennewick, was March 14, with a peak gust of 45 mph. The Hanford Meteorology Station measured a gust of 55 mph on the first day of the month.

This story was originally published April 1, 2016 at 3:41 PM with the headline "Warmer, drier than usual Tri-City April forecast."