Another month lands on another 10-warmest list in the temperature record of Berks County, now in its 129th year.
April was driven by “five consecutive days with highs of at least 80 from the 13th through 17th and included a very early first 90 temperature, 91 on 16th,” says Jeffrey R. Stoudt, a retired meteorologist and Berks weather historian.
“Other warmth besides these five days included two days that reached the low 80s and two near-miss 79s,” he adds.
There were four warm weather date records set — three highs and one low — on the 4th, 15th, 16th and 17th.
“The old record on the 4th was quite weak,” Stoudt said. “The new record of 82 is still weak compared to record highs on surrounding dates.”
The 91-degree 16th was the second earliest 90-degree day in the database. A 90 was recorded on April 14, 1941. Had that 91 occurred a day later, it would not have been a record.
A blast of heat 50 years ago set records for the 17th through the 20th, with temperatures in the mid-90s in 1976. It was the hottest readings in a year that turned out to be among the coldest 10 on record.
In the end last month, the average of 57.2 degrees ties for third warmest April with 1921. It might have made a run for No. 1 but there was significant offsetting chilliness, with 10 days averaging below normal, and one of them a record.
“Despite the likelihood of the low of 29 on the 8th surviving as the month’s coldest, a strong later cold snap produced another low of 29 on the 21st,” Stoudt said. The latter was a record.
“The three days with lows at or below 32 is typical,” he added. “However, no really cold daily highs occurred, the coolest of which was 52 on the 7th. Therefore, late wintry cold days were absent.”
Now, five of the 10 warmest Aprils have occurred since 2010. For Marches, seven of the warmest 11 on record in Berks have occurred since 2010.
With May and June the trend is not so dominant, with only two of the 10 warmest of those respective months having occurred since 2010. In May those are No.(s) 2 and 3 and for June No.(s) 2 and 5.
Even with all these warm months in the 21st century, at the top of lists from March through June are entries from the mild midcentury from 1945, 1941, 1944 and 1943, respectively.
March 2026 was sixth warmest March in the database. There was not as many days of offsetting cold that month as in April, and most of those days were not as far below normal as days in April.
Back to April, Stoudt says the third through 10th warmest Aprils are packed in the narrow range of 57.2 and 56.2 degrees.
Meanwhile, precipitation was unremarkable, with a moderately subnormal total of 2.52 inches.
Rain was fairly well distributed during the month, precluded really long dry spells, and included four moderate daily amounts in the narrow range of 0.48 and 0.56 inch, favorable for early spring growth, Stoudt said.
Small hail, up to 0.33 inch diameter, large pea-size, briefly pelted parts of the Reading area late afternoon of the 19th, but with no thunder, he added.
April weather in Berks
• Temperature: 57.2 degrees
• Normal: 52.5 degrees
• Precipitation: 2.52 inches
• Normal: 3.35 inches
Records:
Warmest high: 82 on the 4th (81, 1921); 89 on the 15th (86, 1941); 91 on the 16th (90, 2012)
Warmest low: 61 degrees on the 17th (tie, 2002)
Coldest low: 29 on the 21st (tie, 1981 and 2018)
90-degree days: 1 (First of 2026)
10 warmest Aprils by average temperature
58.4 degrees: 1941
57.9: 2017
57.2: 2026
57.2: 1921
57.1: 1960
56.7: 2023
56.4: 1915
56.4: 2019
56.3: 1954
56.2: 2010
Source: National Weather Service
Rainfall amounts from the Berks Area Rainfall Networks in inches:
• Hamburg, 3.54
• Shartlesville 3.44
• Auburn, 3.28
• Dryville, 3.1
• Topton, 3.06
• Oley Furnace, 3.03
• Lobachsville, 3.01
• Wernersville, 3
• Henningsville, 2.99
• Bernville, 2.98
• Muhlenberg Park, 2.96
• Cornwall Terrace, 2.95
• Mohrsville SW, 2.93
• Strausstown, 2.93
• Mohrsville, 2.91
• Lincoln Park, 2.9
• Boyers Junction, 2.82
• Bechtelsville NW, 2.8
• Reading E, 2.8
• Cacoosing, 2.78
• Shillington, 2.78
• Mohnton, 2.72
• West Reading, 2.66
• Bechtelsville, 2.64
• Boyertown, 2.59
• Womelsdorf, 2.56
• Greenfields, 2.49
• Birdsboro, 2.46
• Knauers, 2.32
• Elverson NE, 2.3
• Morgantown, 2.24
• Frystown, 2.21
• New Morgan, 2.17
• Reiffton, 2.16
• Quaker Hill, 1.8