Description

Hi All,

The main story of April 2026 was the hot and dry pattern that impacted Tennessee for most of the month and which was a continuation of this same pattern from March. Temperature anomalies across the state in April were slightly less than what we observed in March, but mean temperatures still ranged from 4-8°F above normal for April. Based on mean temperatures for the month, April 2026 was the warmest April on record in Knoxville’s 153-year weather history (beating out April 2017 by 0.2°F) and Nashville’s 152-year weather history (beating out April 2017 by 1.2°F). April 2026 was also tied for the warmest April on record for Chattanooga (164-year weather history, tied with 2017) and Oak Ridge (79-year weather history, tied with 2017).   Partly due to these warm temperatures and well below normal rainfall over the state since the start of fall of 2025, drought conditions expanded and deteriorated over the state in the last two months. This drought has been lingering since last fall, when 2.08% of the state’s area was in drought (D1 or greater on the U.S. Drought Monitor) on the November 4, 2025 Drought Monitor Map. By the beginning of March 2026, the area of the state in some level of drought (D1 or greater) had increased to 60.79%, and 100% of the state was in some level of drought by April 21, 2026. On the last U.S. Drought Monitor map released in April (April 28, 2026), 86.94% of the state’s area was in Severe or Extreme Drought (D2 or D3).

While the impacts of this winter/spring drought have not been as severe as droughts Tennessee experiences during summer and fall seasons, there were many small to moderate wildland and brush fires reported in Tennessee during March and April. By late April many streams across the state were reporting record low streamflow for this time of year, with many streams showing flow levels more similar to late June or July rather than April. The current drought has built on large precipitation deficits over the past six months, with most areas of the state running a deficit of 9-15-inches compared to normal over the previous 180 days. And six-month precipitation rankings for weather stations across the state show that the past six months (October 30, 2025 – April 30, 2026) are among the top-10 driest on record for that time of year.

Check out the attached monthly report and snapshot for more info!

Andrew & Wil

Tennessee Climate Office

East Tennessee State University

Department of Geosciences

310 Ross Hall Johnson City, TN 37614

www.etsu.edu/tn-climate

tnclimate@etsu.edu

facebook.com/TN.Climate

instagram: @tn_climate

Publication Date

4-2026

Download

Share

COinS