April, 1997 will always be remembered for the devastating flood that followed one of the worst winters in recorded history. The winter of 1996-1997 did not end until well into April that year. April 4-7, 1997 brought perhaps the worst storm of that winter to the area with a devastating blizzard and heavy rain event as many were frantically sandbagging to stem the rapidly rising water. The storm was followed by a severe cold snap that brought January type temperatures to the area.
From April 6-9 the low temperature dropped into the singles digits, although, no records were broken. The story was different with daytime highs. The high temperatures on April 7, 1997 reached a meager 13 degrees. That high of 13 degrees was the coldest maximum temperature recorded during the month of April in Fargo Moorhead since records began back in 1881.
To this day the daily highs from April 7-10, 1997 are still the lowest maximum temperatures on record for those dates.
April 2007 also had a very cold start, with 4 consecutive days with highs in the 20s. But, the second half of the month was dramatic turnaround, with nearly everyday having a high over 60, including the first 80 of the season on April 28.