April 2025 marked the end of the ski season for most locations in the East. All resorts closed in the Mid-Atlantic, with a couple of resorts still open in New England. The green-up of foliage is occurring throughout the East, and it is accelerating into New England as temperatures warm.

In May, spring will continue to arrive with foliage continuing to green up and reach New England. A few snow patches will continue to bring late-season turns into New England across the higher peaks, with Killington holding onto its snow patch as well.

Temperatures will see a 40-50% chance of being above-normal in May. The precipitation forecast in May will see equal chances of being above or below normal, except the Ohio River Valley, with a 30-40% chance of below normal precipitation.

Read on to learn more about the weather in April and the May forecast.

April 2025 Review:

Spring is well underway across the East, and winter is officially over with little to no chance of snow in the forecast. The total snowfall this season has reached its peak, and any late-season snow that does fall in May will be light and confined to the highest elevations.

April was a fairly quiet month of weather in the East with above-normal temperatures and rapid changes, with spring well underway. Days got longer, and the foliage started to green up, with several days of thunderstorms. There were a few late-season snow events in early April, but those are now in the past, with nearly all snow melted except for the higher terrain in New England.

Check out the OpenSnow season snow depth map from October 2024 through April 2025.

Temperatures during April were several degrees above-normal throughout the East, with the warmest temperatures (3-5+ degrees) in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. The above-normal anomalies became less evident for northern locations, but even New England was 1-2 degrees above-normal in April.

There was a mix of precipitation patterns, with most areas around normal in April. A few areas saw below and above normal precipitation, but this was not by much. I'm going to start adding the drought maps in addition to the precipitation anomalies. This will help us keep track of precipitation falling to see where and how much or how little precipitation is falling.

A few areas in the East are in drought conditions along the coastal Mid-Atlantic and into the Southeast. This will affect and increase wildfire potential in May. See the end of this article for wildfire information in May!

May 2025 Outlook:

In May, the weather pattern will favor above-normal temperatures with a 40-50% chance of this occurring throughout the East. Strong southerly flow will bring early warm-season temperatures to the East in May.

The precipitation outlook in May forecasts equal chances of above or below normal, except the Ohio River Valley, with a 30-40% chance of below normal precipitation. As temperatures warm, thunderstorms will become more frequent in the East, which will influence localized areas of above and below normal precipitation. 

I do not foresee many chances of snow in May with the warm temperature forecast. Any snow that could fall will need to come from an isolated storm system, and it will be confined to the highest peaks if it does occur.

 

Severe Weather

There have been several days of severe weather in April, which has been a sign of things to come as the seasons change. Most severe weather stayed on the western side of the East, closer to the Midwest. The Midwest has already seen several severe weather outbreaks with tornadoes!

Below is a look at the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) April preliminary report summary of tornadoes, severe winds, and hail.

Note on the above map, the lines of severe weather reports, which indicate multiple reports from one or a group of storms.

Wildfire Outlook

As the seasons change, we have to worry about wildfires across the US and Canada. There have already been a couple of wildfires in the East this year due to dry weather. This will continue for coastal areas in the East with a chance of above normal wildfire activity.

Below is a look at the wildfire potential for the US and Canada in May.

With hurricane season around the corner, I will start tropical updates in the next monthly review. Thanks for reading. I will have the next monthly review at the start of June.

Zach Butler