April is typically a month of great temperature variability, and that was certainly evident this year - there were three days early in the month when the temperature didn't even reach 50^oF, then three days in mid-month when readings soared to 90^oF or above!

As we get into May, however, the variability lessens, simply because the sun is getting higher in the sky and thus plays a more commanding role over temperature. From today until the end of the month, we'll add almost an hour of daylight, so that by June 1, nights will be only about nine hours long. With so much daylight, it's tough to have a really chilly day in May - but it can happen if a brisk east or northeast wind blows inland off the Atlantic Ocean or Delaware Bay where the air still hovers in the 50s most of the month.

Of course, the warming atmosphere also means an increasing risk of thunderstorms - in a typical May, thunder will be heard on four or five days. It's a good time to remind ourselves that although only a few thunderstorms produce damaging winds or hail, every thunderstorm poses a danger from lightning.