...1852... A tornado, following the same track as the famous "Tri-state Tornado" of 1925, struck the town of New Harmony IND. Just sixteen persons were killed by the twister, due to the sparse settlement. The "Tri-state Tornado" killed 695 persons. (David Ludlum)

...1902... 2 inches of rain fell at Newport, Rhode Island, breaking the record of .12 inches set in 1895.

...1909... There was an inch of snow on the ground at Newport, Rhode Island on this day, setting the record high for the date.

...1924... A major tornado outbreak occurred from Alabama to Virginia. 20 tornadoes were of F2 intensity or greater. A total of 111 people were killed and over 1100 were injured. A F4 tornado tore through Steedman and Horrell hill, South Carolina. 55 people were killed from this tornado.

...1934... The barometric pressure peaked at 30.71 at Newport, Rhode Island setting the record high for the date.

...1942... The high temperature peaked at 83 degrees at Newport, Rhode Island setting a new record high for the date. The previous record was 79 degrees set the year before in 1941.

...1953... A tornado 300 yards in width leveled homes on the north side of Warner-Robins GA, and barracks on the south side of the Warner-Robins Air Force Base.

...1963... A wind gust of 45 miles per hour was recorded at Newport, Rhode Island on this day, breaking the previous record of 36 miles per hour set in 1956.

...1986... The driest January through April period in the history of Birmingham, Alabama came to a close. Total rainfall for the period was 6.00 inches, compared with a normal of 21.46 inches. The previous record drought for this period was 10.72 inches in 1972.

...1987... Thunderstorms developing along a cold front produced severe weather in Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and Montana. Thunderstorms produced wind gusts to 100 mph in Lincoln, Mineral and Sanders counties. Twenty-three cities in the central and southeastern U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date. Memphis TN was the hot spot in the nation with a record high of 94 degrees. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

...1988... A cold front produced high winds in the southwestern U.S. Winds gusting to 90 mph in southwestern Utah downed power lines, and damaged trees and outbuildings. The high winds also downed power lines in Nevada, completely knocking out power in the town of Henderson. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

...1989... Thunderstorms produced severe weather in central and eastern Texas. Hail three inches in diameter was reported at Cool, and thunderstorm winds gusted to 80 mph at Hillsboro. For the first time of record Oklahoma City went through the entire month of April without a single thunderstorm. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) (The Weather Channel)

...1990... Late afternoon and evening thunderstorms produced severe weather in southern Virginia and the Carolinas, with tennis ball size hail reported southeast of Chesnee SC. Thunderstorms moving over the Chesapeake Bay flooded U.S. Highway 50 on Kent Island MD with several inches of water resulting in a seventeen-mile long traffic jam. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

...1991... Memphis, Tennessee set a new monthly rainfall record for April with 17.13 inches of rain. The old record was 13.90 inches set back in 1877.

...1992... At Newport, Rhode Island the temperature dipped to 29 degrees, breaking the record of 34 degrees, set in 1909 and 1975 and the wind chill was a cold 21 degrees, breaking that record of 25 degrees set in 1987.  The heat was definitely on in the central U.S. The following cities set record high temperatures not only for the date but for the month of April as well: Valentine, Nebraska 100 degrees, North Platte, Nebraska 98 degrees, Colorado Springs, Colorado 87 degrees, Denver, Colorado 90 degrees, Casper, Wyoming 84 degrees, and Cheyenne, Wyoming 83 degrees. -The past month was .3 degrees below normal at Raleigh, North Carolina. This ended an amazingly long streak of 27 consecutive months of normal or above normal temperatures. The streak began in January 1990. The previous record streak of 11 months extended from July 1912 to May 1913.