I've mentioned a few times in previous Franklin Facts that I'm not a big fan of using the word "normal" to describe daily weather around here. There's just too much variability in the weather on any given day from year to year to characterize anything as "normal." Really, "normal" is just an average of extremes. This date, April 3, is a pretty good example.

Back in 1915, this was the day before Easter, but between a foot and a foot and a half of snow fell, still the largest April snowstorm on record around here - and temperatures barely reached 40^oF. And there have been a half-dozen other April 3rds just like that one in terms of cold daytime weather, and many with nights below freezing. In contrast, the record high for today is 86^oF in Wilmington and 87^oF in Philadelphia, both set in 1963.

So how did this April 3rd stack up? Well, as Nancy will tell us in weather, somewhere in between those extremes.