We could not have ordered up a better April than the one just ended last night. The drought that set in back in March was eased, although we're still running a deficit for the year. Temperatures remained pleasant. Our furnaces and utility bills caught a break (we're going to need it). And the sunshine was bountiful. Here are the stats:

The best news in April was that the rain returned after the driest March on record in Baltimore. Precipitation totaled 3.28 inches, which is about a quarter-inch more than the long-term average for Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International (pause for a breath) Airport. Most of the rain came in just two significant events. We recorded 0.93 inch on April 7-8, and got another good soaking on April 21-23, when another 1.56 inch fell.

There was even a trace of snow at BWI, on April 5. In all, we enjoyed only 8 days at BWI rated by the weather service as cloudy.

Temperatures were mild overall, averaging 57.4 degrees, or 4.2 degrees above the long-term averages. That was the result of an unusually mild stretch from April 11 to 20, during which daytime highs held in the unseasonably warm 70s and low 80s. The hottest day in April was the 20th, which reached 83 degrees at BWI. The coldest was the 10th, with a low of 33 degrees. Although we saw some frost and sub-freezing temperatures in some spots, the official airport temperature never dropped below freezing all month.

And that helped keep our heating costs down. Heating degree-days - a measure of heating demand based on temperature averages, ended April a sizable 34 percent below the long-term average for the month. For the season, we're running 11 percent to the good. Here's hoping our cooling degree-days look just as good after everone's electric rates jump in July.