Last April was colder, wetter and gloomier than average according to the climatological overview of the Belgian Met Office. Last month did not include a single ‘spring day’, a day with temperatures of 20 degrees Celsius or more and 66.3 millimetres more rainfall was recorded than average.
No doubt you noticed it too: April was a gloomy, wet and chilly month and the meteorological statistics confirm this. With an average temperature of 9.0 degrees, the temperature average was below normal for the time of year (10.4 degrees). Moreover, the 18.4 degrees on 30 April was the second lowest maximum temperature recorded in the month of April since 1991. Only in 1997 was a lower temperature recorded: 18.2 degrees.
For the first time since 2016, not a single ‘spring day’ was recorded either. Normally, April counts 4.7 spring days.
Like January and March, April 2023 was also wetter than normal. 66.3 millimetres of precipitation fell last month compared to the average of 47.7 millimetres. April 1 saw the most precipitation with a daily total of 13.8 millimetres. With 5 thunderstorm days, it did, however, there were fewer thunder storms than normal. The average is 8.1 days for April.
On 21 April, a lightning strike of 343 kiloamperes was recorded in Middelkerke. The Met Office says powerful discharges like that rarely occur in our country.
With a total sunshine duration of 149 hours and 2 minutes, April was also a lot gloomier than the average. On average, the sun shines for 171 hours and 16 minutes in April.