April Weather in Dry Tortugas National Park United StatesDaily high temperatures increase by 3°F, from 80°F to 83°F, rarely falling below 75°F or exceeding 86°F. Daily low temperatures increase by 3°F, from 72°F to 75°F, rarely falling below 65°F or exceeding 79°F. For reference, on August 6, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Dry Tortugas National Park typically range from 81°F to 89°F, while on January 18, the coldest day of the year, they range from 65°F to 74°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on April. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. CloudsThe month of April in Dry Tortugas National Park experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 33% throughout the month. The clearest day of the month is April 1, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 68% of the time. For reference, on June 24, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 70%, while on March 5, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 73%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Dry Tortugas National Park, the chance of a wet day over the course of April is gradually increasing, starting the month at 15% and ending it at 17%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 59% on September 15, and its lowest chance is 12% on March 24. RainfallTo show variation within the month and not just the monthly total, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day rainfall during April in Dry Tortugas National Park is increasing, starting the month at 1.4 inches, when it rarely exceeds 3.3 inches or falls below 0.1 inches, and ending the month at 2.3 inches, when it rarely exceeds 5.4 inches or falls below 0.3 inches. SunOver the course of April in Dry Tortugas National Park, the length of the day is increasing. From the start to the end of the month, the length of the day increases by 39 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 1 minute, 21 seconds, and weekly increase of 9 minutes, 26 seconds. The shortest day of the month is April 1, with 12 hours, 25 minutes of daylight and the longest day is April 30, with 13 hours, 4 minutes of daylight. The latest sunrise of the month in Dry Tortugas National Park is 7:22 AM on April 1 and the earliest sunrise is 26 minutes earlier at 6:56 AM on April 30. The earliest sunset is 7:47 PM on April 1 and the latest sunset is 13 minutes later at 8:01 PM on April 30. Daylight saving time is observed in Dry Tortugas National Park during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during April, so the entire month is in standard time. For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 6:43 AM and sets 13 hours, 40 minutes later, at 8:23 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:11 AM and sets 10 hours, 37 minutes later, at 5:48 PM. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for April 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.
HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. The chance that a given day will be muggy in Dry Tortugas National Park is rapidly increasing during April, rising from 61% to 74% over the course of the month. For reference, on July 2, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 100% of the time, while on January 29, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 42% of the time. WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed in Dry Tortugas National Park is gradually decreasing during April, decreasing from 13.1 miles per hour to 12.1 miles per hour over the course of the month. For reference, on November 6, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 14.6 miles per hour, while on July 28, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 9.3 miles per hour. The hourly average wind direction in Dry Tortugas National Park throughout April is predominantly from the east, with a peak proportion of 63% on April 30. Water TemperatureDry Tortugas National Park is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water. The average surface water temperature in Dry Tortugas National Park is gradually increasing during April, rising by 2°F, from 76°F to 79°F, over the course of the month. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). Temperatures in Dry Tortugas National Park are sufficiently warm year round that it is not entirely meaningful to discuss the growing season in these terms. We nevertheless include the chart below as an illustration of the distribution of temperatures experienced throughout the year. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. The average accumulated growing degree days in Dry Tortugas National Park are rapidly increasing during April, increasing by 778°F, from 1,922°F to 2,700°F, over the course of the month. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Dry Tortugas National Park is essentially constant during April, remaining within 0.2 kWh of 6.7 kWh throughout. The highest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during April is 6.9 kWh on April 28. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Dry Tortugas National Park are 24.649 deg latitude, -82.872 deg longitude, and 0 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Dry Tortugas National Park is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 0 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 0 feet. Within 10 miles is also essentially flat (0 feet). Within 50 miles is also essentially flat (0 feet). The area within 2 miles of Dry Tortugas National Park is covered by water (100%), within 10 miles by water (100%), and within 50 miles by water (100%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Dry Tortugas National Park, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. The details of the data sources used for this report can be found on the Key West International Airport page. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. 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