OTTAWA - Whatever happened to April showers?

If you were wondering about the dry weather in April, you were right: it was a record.

According to agricultural meteorologist Andy Bootsma of Agriculture Canada’s Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre, the recently-concluded month was the driest April in 112 years of recorded weather at the Central Experimental Farm here.

There was only 12.7mm of precipitation (half an inch) in April, 2001, breaking the previous record, set in April 1898, of 19.0mm.

Weather data has been recorded at the Central Experimental Farm since 1890.

Bootsma said the 100-year average for precipitation (rain and snowfall) in April is 64mm. The 30-year average is 68mm.

January to April precipitation at the Central Experimental Farm was 143.9mm, the second-lowest on record.

According to Bootsma, the probability of precipitation in April being lower than the year 2001 figure is less than one in 100.