Climatological Report (Monthly)
Issued by NWS
Issued by NWS
000 CXAK57 PAJK 022102 CLMKTN NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK 1251 PM AKDT MON OCT 02 2023 ................................... ...THE KETCHIKAN CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER 2023... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1910 TO 2023 WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE NORMAL .............................................................. TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 80 09/05/2017 LOW 23 09/22/1926 HIGHEST 70 09/10 71 -1 LOWEST 43 09/20 38 5 09/28 09/29 AVG. MAXIMUM 59.3 58.9 0.4 AVG. MINIMUM 49.6 48.3 1.3 MEAN 54.4 53.6 0.8 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 DAYS MAX <= 32 0 0.0 0.0 DAYS MIN <= 32 0 0.1 -0.1 DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 28.33 2011 MINIMUM 1.68 1929 TOTALS 19.69 14.30 5.39 DAILY AVG. 0.66 0.48 0.18 DAYS >= .01 21 19.5 1.5 DAYS >= .10 20 15.8 4.2 DAYS >= .50 14 8.8 5.2 DAYS >= 1.00 8 5.0 3.0 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 4.99 09/11 TO 09/12 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 309 342 -33 SINCE 7/1 530 732 -202 COOLING TOTAL 0 0 0 SINCE 1/1 25 16 9 FREEZE DATES EARLIEST 10/25 LATEST 04/19 .............................................................. WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 8.8 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 33/140 DATE 09/17 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 53/130 DATE 09/17 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 0 MIXED PRECIP 0 HEAVY RAIN 5 RAIN 16 LIGHT RAIN 24 FREEZING RAIN 0 LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 0 HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 0 LIGHT SNOW 0 SLEET 0 FOG 21 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 1 HAZE 2 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. $$ ...MUCH ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL AND MARGINALLY ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES FOR SEPTEMBER... Warm air advection associated with several frontal systems resulted in daily average temperatures above normal for the month. Departures from normal ranged from 0.3 degrees in Yakutat to 2.1 degrees in Sitka. At all 4 climate sites, the departures from normal were more the result of warmer overnight lows than daytime highs, and this hase been a trend we have observed for many months now. Several strong frontal systems with associated atmospheric rivers resulted in above normal rainfall for the month at all 4 climate sites, with departures from normal ranging from 2% above at Yakutat to 61% at Sitka. In fact, Sitka came close to recording a new precipitation record for the month, rivaling the 20.59 inches that fell in 1987. Minor flooding was reported at Indian River near Sitka. More notable was the moderate flooding observed at Jordan Creek in Juneau. Multiple homes and several businesses in the business complex (Jordan Creek Center) adjacent to the creek were affected. At least 1 home resorted to using a pump to remove water from a crawlspace during the height of the event. Parking areas, yards, a local street (Jordan Creek Rd), and driveways had 6 to 12 inches of standing water on them. Numerous temperature and precipitation records were broken during the month. Ketchikan Airport set a new daily rainfall record with 4.96 inches on the 11th - a full 35% more than the previous record of 2.48 inches set way back in 1937. Juneau International Airport set a new daily rainfall record with 1.36 inches on the 12th, which broke the old record of 1.03 inches set back in 2009. On the 14th, both the Juneau and Sitka airports broke 24-hour rainfall records. Juneau received 2.13 inches of rainfall, exceeding their old record of 1.62 inches set back in 1952. Sitka received 3.88 inches of rainfall, exceeding their old record of 3.47 inches set back in 1972. On the 21st, Sitka received 3.57 inches of rainfall, which broke their old record of 3.1 inches set back in 1994. Quite the wet month in Sitka! Sitka also posted 2 record warm days; on the 10th with 72 degrees and on the the 25th with 66 degrees, records set in 2018 and 1944, respectively. Chambers/Fritsch $$