"Among the changing months, May stands confest the sweetest, and in fairest colors dressed."
- James Thomson
April brought the classic push-and-pull of a season still making up its mind…warm stretches giving way to stubborn cool spells, active storm tracks keeping the plains and Midwest on alert, and the kind of weather that reminds you spring is never quite done surprising you. Across the WeatherFlow-Tempest Network, the range of conditions was on full display.
The highest temperature recorded across the Tempest Network in April reached 104°F in Laredo, TX.
The lowest temperature dropped to -4°F in Vern, MN.
Data Look Back: Seeing the Storm Before it Arrives
One of the more striking things the Tempest Network can do is catch what you can't yet see coming…a storm event around the middle of April gave us a clear example of exactly that.
We mapped the same storm in two very different ways: lightning strike counts, and 3-hour surface pressure change. The lightning view shows the storm's intensity and location as it happens, but the pressure data shows the story a different way. What that map reveals are atmospheric waves being generated by the storms themselves, radiating outward well beyond the most active lightning, picked up by surface stations from miles away and from storm systems happening hundreds of miles in the distance.
Those atmospheric waves move fast, and because they can indicate developing storm activity before it fully arrives, they become something more valuable than just a record of what happened; they become an early signal for what's building next.
For operators, broadcasters, and anyone making weather-sensitive decisions, that kind of ahead-of-the-storm visibility is exactly what the network is built for.
On May 31, 1889, a powerful low-pressure system that had been building for days delivered what was described as the heaviest rainfall event ever recorded in western Pennsylvania: an estimated 6 to 10 inches in 24 hours. Small creeks became raging rivers, and fourteen miles upstream from the city of Johnstown, the poorly-maintained and rain battered South Fork Dam could no longer hold. At approximately 3:00 p.m., it gave way, releasing 20 million tons of water into the narrow valley below.
The flood wave, which was reported at 35 feet high, half a mile wide, and moving at 40 miles per hour, tore through several towns before hitting Johnstown. The flood and subsequent fires killed 2,209 people, making it the largest loss of civilian life from a natural disaster in U.S. history at the time. Among the dead were almost 100 families and nearly 400 children.
Warning had been sent, but went largely unheeded because flooding in the valley was common, and most residents didn't believe this time would be any different. In the aftermath, a network of river gauges was installed across the region specifically to improve flood warning capability. It's an early and sobering example of something that still holds true today: a warning only works if it reaches people in time.
Photo and details courtesy of the National Weather Service.
This month’s Tempest in the Elements comes from Richard W., who’s running not one, but two Tempest stations. That's some serious weather dedication! Thanks for sharing, Richard! Want your setup or project to be featured? Send us a photo of your Tempest setup, creative project, or unique way you’re using your station - or use the hashtag #tempestwx.
...and if you haven't opened yours lately, now's the time. Across the iKitesurf, iWindsurf, WindAlert, FishWeather, SailFlow, and HeatAlert app suite, the latest updates bring a faster, cleaner experience without changing the data you already rely on. New map upgrades make session planning more intuitive, smarter search helps you find your spots quickly, and streamlined navigation gets you to your forecast in seconds. Pro forecast enhancements add more depth when conditions really matter, and the experience is now fully ad-free, because when you've got a session to get to, you don't have time for anything else.
And there's more: the apps now include access to ECMWF forecast model data - one of the most respected global weather models available. For those who want the best possible forecast picture before heading out, this is a meaningful addition.
Same trusted data. Better experience. And now with even more forecasting power. Note: the update is currently live across all apps operating on iOS, with expectations for Android system updates to go live soon.
April kept the TempestOne sales team on the road and in the room during spring conference season across industries. At NAB Show in Las Vegas, the team connected with broadcasters, media technology professionals, and weather content teams, conversations that sit squarely at the intersection of accurate, hyperlocal data and the audiences who depend on it to make decisions in real time.
AiDashEvolve brought together leaders in AI-driven infrastructure and utility analytics, a space where high-resolution weather intelligence is increasingly central to how operators manage risk, plan maintenance, and respond to events as they unfold.
And at EMAT, the focus shifted to emergency management and public safety - a community for whom the difference between good data and great data is measured in lives and response time.
Three different conferences, three different industries, and a consistent thread running through all of them: the need for weather data that's fast, reliable, and built for real-world decisions. These are exactly the kinds of conversations that remind us why the work matters, and we always come away energized. We're already looking forward to what the rest of the conference season brings.
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