North Carolina Experiences Hottest, Wettest April On Record

North Carolina just experienced its warmest and wettest April on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Mother Nature dumped 6.75 inches of rain on North Carolina in April, more than double the usual amount.

Most of the state also experienced record warm temperatures: April's average temperature was 64 degrees Fahrenheit, six degrees warmer than usual. In fact, it's the hottest April in North Carolina in more than 120 years of record keeping.

We weren't the only ones going through this, though. There were plenty of temperature records set in Mid-Atlantic states, and much of the rest of the country was at least above average.

Ryan Ellis is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Raleigh. He says our wet April is considered a rare weather event. And it comes on the heels of another, Hurricane Matthew, just a few months ago.                                                                                    

Still, Ellis isn't prepared to say that rare events are the new normal.

“I wouldn't really expect another one in six months, but that's not to say it can't happen,” Ellis says. “It's just, over the course of history, we see events like that every 20-50 years. It just so happens two of those happened really close together this time.”

The wet weather has helped on at least one front, however.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, only five percent of the contiguous U.S. remains in drought. That's the lowest that figure has been since the Monitor started keeping records in 2000.