With New England leading the way, April showers brought 133 percent of the Northeast's normal precipitation, making it the 10th wettest April in 102 years of records, according to the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University.

"Last year's drought problems are just a memory. This year, the problem is too much rain in the Northeast," said Keith Eggleston, regional climatologist at the center. There was more precipitation this April than in March and April combined last spring -- 4.58 inches for this April versus 4.34 inches for March/April 1995 combined.

The wettest spot was northern New England where New Hampshire reported 7.09 inches -- about 210 percent of normal -- for its wettest April ever. The old record of 6.74 inches was set in 1933. Vermont reported 6.14 inches of rain in April, which is 195 percent of its normal precipitation. The state fell 0.2 inches shy of its 76-year-old record of 6.35 inches, but it was still the second wettest April on record. At 84 percent of its normal precipitation, West Virginia was the only state in the region to fall on the "dry" side.

Comparing last year's April-May precipitation with this year's April-May rain, Albany, N.Y., at 9.31 inches has experienced the biggest difference with 6.02 inches more than last year -- with May only half over. Burlington, Vt., so far has 5 more inches of rain than last April-May, measuring 10.88 inches of precipitation.

Despite the start of spring, winter conditions continued in April, as snowfall remained a prominent part of the weather picture. Binghamton, N.Y., broke its seasonal snowfall record on April 8, as the seasonal snow total reached 131.8 inches. This surpassed the old record of 131.3 inches set during the snow season of 1993-94.

Heavy snow fell on New England on April 9 and 10. Worcester, Mass., accumulated 14 inches from the storm, bringing its snowfall total to 132.9 inches for the season. This broke its seasonal snowfall record of 120.1 inches set in 1992-93.

Other seasonal snowfall records fell in April, when Bridgeport, Conn., surpassed its old record of 71.3 inches set in 1933-34 with this year's new mark of 75.8 inches. At 119.3 inches, Bedford, Mass., handily beat its old record of 110.7 inches set in 1947-48.

Temperatures averaged close to normal during April. The largest departures were found in upstate New York along the Great Lakes through central portions of the state, with departures of more than 2 degrees below normal. New York averaged 1.7 degrees below normal, while New Jersey was 1.4 degrees warmer than normal. All other states in the region had departures of less than 1 degree either side of normal. Overall, the 12-state region had a monthly average temperature that was 45 degrees -- only 0.2 degrees below normal.

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