March-April 2017 reported the 3rd highest tally of 20-yr daily precipitation events on record for this season (16.6% of 889 available stations). This came on the heels of the March-April 2016 record of 20.0%, consolidating a highly significant upward trend of +3% per century (p=99.7% through 2016 and p=99.9% through 2017). The national result was anchored by high regional totals in the South (26.8%; 4th highest), Ohio Valley (25.7%; 6th highest), and Pacific Northwest (19.6%; 11th highest). Two extreme March-April seasons in a row in the South (2016 was highest on record with 41.3%) anchor a statistically significant upward trend through 2017 (p=98%), while the upward trend through 2015 was not significant (p=85%). Both the Ohio Valley and the Pacific Northwest have not shown significant changes in their extreme tallies for this season since 1901. On the other hand, an outcome of 0% in the West ties for last place with 23 other years, but not associated with any significant trend.

Four Billion-Dollar Disasters (https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/events) focused on the South and Ohio Valley, causing 8 fatalities. Three of these events were associated with severe weather, while the fourth was due to a hard freeze after unusually warm weather preceding it (in the Southeast).