Climatological Report (Monthly)
Issued by NWS
Issued by NWS
000 CXAK57 PAJK 041937 CLMYAK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK 1124 AM AKDT THU MAY 04 2023 ................................... ...THE YAKUTAT CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL 2023... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1917 TO 2023 WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE NORMAL .............................................................. TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 71 04/30/1995 LOW 3 04/02/1948 04/01/1944 HIGHEST 58 04/21 56 2 LOWEST 20 04/03 19 1 AVG. MAXIMUM 44.9 46.9 -2.0 AVG. MINIMUM 31.1 30.3 0.8 MEAN 38.0 38.6 -0.6 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 DAYS MAX <= 32 0 0.0 0.0 DAYS MIN <= 32 19 18.2 0.8 DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 19.12 1977 MINIMUM 0.75 1948 TOTALS 4.90 7.94 -3.04 DAILY AVG. 0.16 0.26 -0.10 DAYS >= .01 20 18.6 1.4 DAYS >= .10 15 13.9 1.1 DAYS >= .50 0 5.1 -5.1 DAYS >= 1.00 0 2.1 -2.1 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 0.68 04/26 TO 04/27 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 774 792 -18 SINCE 7/1 7276 7714 -438 COOLING TOTAL 0 0 0 SINCE 1/1 0 0 0 FREEZE DATES EARLIEST 09/28 LATEST 05/22 .............................................................. WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 5.3 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 25/200 DATE 04/10 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 39/120 DATE 04/08 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 0 MIXED PRECIP 0 HEAVY RAIN 2 RAIN 6 LIGHT RAIN 20 FREEZING RAIN 1 LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 0 HEAVY SNOW 1 SNOW 2 LIGHT SNOW 9 SLEET 0 FOG 22 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 2 HAZE 1 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. $$ ...TEMPERATURES TRENDING BELOW NORMAL WITH PRECIPITATION ABOVE NORMAL FOR MOST SITES IN APRIL... Temperatures trended below normal by anywhere from 0.2 degrees to a full 1.0 degrees across most of Southeast Alaska in April. Skagway and Sitka, however, did come in above normal between 0.4 and 0.6 degrees. But then, that`s Skagway and they are about as far removed from a maritime influence as you can get in Southeast Alaska. Interestingly, Haines followed the trend for the rest of the Panhandle, recording a fraction of a degree below normal for the monthly temperature even though that location is generally similar to Skagway in terms of climate regimes. A departure of 0.4 to 0.6 degrees above or below normal is not too noteworthy, but when the numbers come in a full 1 degree different from normal, that is significant and meaningful in the world of climate and climate statistics. Across Southeast Alaska, the period of April 19th through the 23rd was the warmest period of the month with daytime highs above normal and overnight lows at or slightly below normal. Precipitation trended above normal for most of Southeast Alaska in the month of April. Exceptions noted include Klawock and Skagway. April is one of the driest months of the year in Southeast Alaska, so departures from normal ranging from 61.7% below normal to 35% above normal are not all that impressive when absolute normal monthly precipitation ranges from 3.47 to 10.25 inches. Sitka set a daily rainfall record on April 27th with 1.18 inches, which breaks the old record of 0.86 inches, which was set back in 1964. So why the colder than normal and wetter than normal trend? Very simply, Southeast Alaska wound up on the north side of the jet stream more often than the south side which generally leads to cooler temperatures and wetter than normal precipitation. Chambers/Fritsch $$