Climatological Report (Annual)
Issued by NWS
Issued by NWS
000
CXAK57 PAJK 091843 CCA
CLAYAK
CLIMATE REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU, AK
943 AM AKST THU JAN 9 2020
...................................
...THE YAKUTAT CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE YEAR OF 2019...
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1917 TO 2020
WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S
VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S)
NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
HIGH 88 08/15/2004
LOW -24 12/30/1964
HIGHEST 87 06/27 77 10 76 07/04
LOWEST 2 01/09 -4 6 1 03/02
02/04
AVG. MAXIMUM 50.8 46.9 3.9
AVG. MINIMUM 36.9 33.7 3.2
MEAN 43.8 40.3 3.5 42.7
DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MAX <= 32 17 34.1 -17.1 20
DAYS MIN <= 32 123 153.1 -30.1 138
DAYS MIN <= 0 0 4.3 -4.3 0
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 250.24 1987
MINIMUM 85.99 1950
TOTALS 107.85 155.12 -47.27 129.75
DAILY AVG. 0.29 0.42 -0.13
DAYS >= .01 206 240.1 -34.1 215
DAYS >= .10 144 186.2 -42.2 156
DAYS >= .50 72 97.6 -25.6 78
DAYS >= 1.00 31 51.3 -20.3 47
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 4.10 09/20
DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 7397 9018 -1621 7983
SINCE 7/1 2980 3982 -1002
COOLING TOTAL 4 0 4 0
SINCE 1/1 4 0 4
FREEZE DATES
EARLIEST 09/16
LATEST 05/25
.................................................................
WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 5.1
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 32/240 DATE 10/11
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 60/120 DATE 10/23
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM 0 MIXED PRECIP 0
HEAVY RAIN 52 RAIN 111
LIGHT RAIN 217 FREEZING RAIN 2
LT FREEZING RAIN 5 HAIL 0
HEAVY SNOW 8 SNOW 18
LIGHT SNOW 49 SLEET 0
FOG 280 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 66
HAZE 54
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
$$
...ANOTHER WARMER THAN NORMAL YEAR AND LATE RELIEF FROM THE
DROUGHT...
AFTER A PROLONGED PERIOD OF DROUGHT WHICH SAW RESERVOIRS ACROSS
SOUTHEAST ALASKA DRY TO THE POINT THAT MANY LOCALITIES WERE FORCED
TO RESORT TO DIESEL POWER GENERATION, SIGNIFICANT RELIEF CAME IN THE
FALL. AT THE START OF THE CALENDAR YEAR, OVER 35% OF THE REGION WAS
CODED AS D1 OR IN "MODERATE DROUGHT". THE SITUATION WORSENED FOR THE
SOUTHERN PANHANDLE IN THE SUMMER WHEN AN EXTREME DROUGHT WAS
DELCARED, BUT NEARLY ALL LOCATIONS WERE CATEGORIZED AS ONLY D0 OR
"ABNORMALLY DRY" BY YEAR`S END. THE LONE EXCEPTION IS THE JUNEAU
AREA STILL BEING CATEGORIZED AS IN A MODERATE DROUGHT DUE TO LOW
WATER LEVELS AT THE SNETTISHAM RESERVOIR. THE YEAR ENDED WITH
ACCUMULATED ANNUAL PRECIPITATION RANGING FROM WELL BELOW NORMAL
FOR YAKUTAT TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL FOR KETCHIKAN. AN IMPORTANT
POINT TO REALIZE IS THAT EVEN IF THE YEAR 2020 FEATURES ABOVE
NORMAL PRECIPITATION, IT WILL STILL TAKE MULTIPLE YEARS TO RESTORE
THE PANHANDLE TO EQUILIBRIUM.
THE YEAR BRIEFLY STARTED OUT MUCH WARMER THAN NORMAL WITH JUNEAU AND
YAKUTAT SETTING THE FIRST OF SEVERAL RECORDS FOR DAILY HIGH
TEMPERATURES ON NEW YEAR`S DAY. EVEN AFTER A COOL DOWN TO BELOW
NORMAL AT THE END OF THE FIRST WEEK THROUGH THE SECOND WEEK OF THE
MONTH, AS A WHOLE, JANUARY TRENDED TOWARD NORMAL TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE
NORMAL TEMPERATURES. PRECIPITATION WISE, NEAR NORMAL SNOWFALL TOTALS
AND GREATER THAN NORMAL PRECIP AMOUNTS WERE NOTED, PARTICULARLY IN
THE SOUTHERN PANHANDLE. FEBRUARY WAS THE COLDEST AND SNOWIEST MONTH
OF THE YEAR. WHILE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES TRENDED TOWARD NORMAL, LOW
TEMPERATURES WERE BELOW THE STATISTICAL MEAN. THIS WAS PUNCTUATED BY
SEVERAL SINGLE DIGIT LOWS FOR JUNEAU AND YAKUTAT DURING THE MONTH.
WHILE THE COLD DID SUPPORT MULTIPLE SNOWFALL EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE
REGION, PRECIPITATION WAS BELOW AVERAGE.
SPRINGTIME OPENED UP WITH A HISTORIC MARCH FOR SE AK. BEGINNING
ON MARCH 17TH, A 15 DAY STREAK OF DAILY RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES
BEGAN. DURING THIS STREAK, AT LEAST ONE OF THE 4 CLIMATE SITES SET
A DAILY RECORD NEARLY EVERY DAY. MULTIPLE LOCATIONS, TO INCLUDE
COOP OBSERVER SITES, SET THEIR ALL TIME HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORDS
FOR THE MONTH. FINALLY TO PUNCTUATE HOW UNUSUALLY WARM IT WAS, ON
THE 19TH, KLAWOCK REACHED 70 DEGREES, WHICH WAS THE EARLIEST DATE
FOR 70 DEGREES OR WARMER EVER RECORDED IN THE ENTIRE STATE. BY
CONTRAST, APRIL WAS LIKELY PERCEIVED TO HAVE BEEN COLDER THAN
NORMAL, BUT THAT PERCEPTION WOULD BE INCORRECT AND IS TESTIMONY TO
HOW WARM MARCH REALLY WAS. GENERALLY, MOST LOCATIONS SAW AVERAGE
TEMPERATURES ABOUT A DEGREE ABOVE NORMAL, AND THE TREND OF WARMER
THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS WOULD CONTINUE THROUGH MAY. DRIER THAN
NORMAL CONDITIONS PERSISTED THROUGH THE SPRING, WHICH AGGRAVATED
THE ONGOING DROUGHT CONDITIONS. BY THE END OF MAY, EXTREME DROUGHT
CONDITIONS HAD BEEN DECLARED IN THE SOUTHERN PANHANDLE, AND
REGIONWIDE CONCERN WAS GROWING FOR AN UNCHARACTERISTICALLY
DANGEROUS FIRE SEASON.
SUMMER BEGAN WET WITH TEMPERATURES SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL BUT BY THE
LAST THIRD OF JUNE A PRONOUNCED BLOCKING RIDGE WOULD ESTABLISH
ITSELF OVER THE PANHANDLE USHERING IN WHAT WOULD BECOME A VERY WARM
AND DRY SEASON. A PARTICULARLY HOT SPELL OCCURRED DURING LATE JUNE
AND EARLY JULY. THIS WAS ESPECIALLY NOTICEABLE IN JUNEAU AND YAKUTAT
WHERE MULTIPLE DAYS OF 80+ DEGREE TEMPERATURES WERE RECORDED.
YAKUTAT`S HIGH OF 87 ON JUNE 27TH WAS THE ALL TIME HIGH FOR THE
MONTH, AND WAS ONE DEGREE SHY OF THE ALL TIME EXTREME TEMP FOR THAT
LOCATION. JUNEAU DID NOT REALLY CHALLENGE IT`S ALL TIME RECORD HIGH
HOWEVER IT SHOULD BE NOTED, DURING THIS PERIOD, A SLIGHT SHIFT IN
THE UPPER LEVEL PATTERN PUSHED DENSE WILDFIRE SMOKE FROM INTERIOR
ALASKA AND THE YUKON OVER THE REGION, BLOCKING THE SUN SUFFICIENTLY
ENOUGH TO KEEP MAX TEMPS IN THE 60S AND 70S RATHER THAN THE 80S
FOR APPROXIMATELY 3 DAYS. AFTERWARD, TEMPS WOULD REBOUND BACK TO
AT LEAST THE HIGH 80S FOR A FEW MORE DAYS. WHILE THIS PARTICULAR
STRETCH WAS THE LONGEST IN DURATION FOR 70 OR GREATER TEMPS IN THE
REGION, IT WAS NOT ISOLATED. SUMMER WOULD BE DEFINED BY
ALTERNATING PERIODS OF SEEMINGLY LOWER THAN NORMAL TEMPS FOLLOWED
BY RIDGING THAT WOULD PART THE CLOUDS AND ALLOW THE SUN TO HEAT
THINGS UP. AS FAR AS RAIN, WHEN IT DID FALL, IT TENDED TO DO SO IN
RATHER LARGE AMOUNTS. A PRIME EXAMPLE OF THIS IS KETCHIKAN
RECORDING A RECORD ONE DAY RAINFALL TOTAL OF 4.85 INCHES ON AUGUST
20TH. THIS ALSO WAS NOTED WITH THE NUMBER OF THUNDERSTORMS
IDENTIFIED AS BEING WELL ABOVE THE CLIMATIC AVERAGE FOR SE AK. IN
FACT, ON JUNE 27TH, SATELLITE AND WEB CAM DATA IDENTIFIED A
PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS STORM AND NWS JUNEAU ISSUED THE FIRST
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IN IT`S HISTORY. WHILE THESE ARE FUN
FACTS, SUMMER WILL LIKELY MORE BE REMEMBERED FOR THE DRY
CONDITIONS AND CONTINUED SEVERE DROUGHT, PROMPTING RED FLAG
WARNINGS, BURN BANS AND INDEPENDENCE DAY FIREWORKS DISPLAYS BEING
CANCELLED.
FALL WOULD CONTINUE THE WARMER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS ACROSS THE
PANHANDLE, WHILE PRECIP WOULD START OUT AS A MIXED BAG, BUT BY
NOVEMBER, DROUGHT RELIEF WAS ON THE WAY. REGARDING THE TEMPERATURES,
SEVERAL MORE DAILY WARM TEMP RECORDS WOULD BE SET. PERHAPS THE MOST
IMPRESSIVE OF THESE WAS WHEN JUNEAU REACHED 70 DEGREES ON SEPTEMBER
9TH. WHILE THIS WAS A DAILY RECORD, WHAT ACTUALLY MAKES IT TRULY
IMPORTANT IS THAT IT WAS THE 47TH OCCURRENCE OF 70 DEGREES OR
GREATER AT JUNEAU AIRPORT FOR THE YEAR, BREAKING THE PREVIOUS RECORD
OF 42 DAYS SET IN 2004. AS THE SEASON PROGRESSED, THE REGION WOULD
BECOME MORE LOCKED INTO A LONG TERM PROGRESSIVE PATTERN WHICH WOULD
SEE CONDITIONS TURN CLOUDIER AND WETTER. WHILE THE INCREASED CLOUDS
AND NATURAL DAILY LOSS OF DAYLIGHT WOULD BEGIN TO CONSTRAIN THE
DAILY HIGH TEMPS TO AT OR SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL, THE SAME CONDITIONS
WOULD CREATE CONDITIONS THAT WOULD NOT ALLOW FOR LARGE DIURNAL
SWINGS AT NIGHT, THUS BY THE END OF SEASON, NIGHT TIME LOWS WOULD BE
WELL ABOVE NORMAL. PRECIP WOULD BEGIN THE SEASON CONTINUING THE
TREND FROM SUMMER WHEN RAIN WOULD COME IN GREAT QUANTITIES WHEN IT
DID OCCUR, BUT WOULD STILL AVERAGE OUT TO BELOW NORMAL TOTALS. THIS
BEGAN TO SHIFT IN NOVEMBER AS THE PATTERN WOULD ALLOW FOR LOW
PRESSURE SYSTEMS TO CONTINUOUSLY CYCLE THROUGH THE GULF CREATING
VARIOUS LEVELS OF IMPACTS TO THE REGION. THIS WOULD CREATE WHAT
SOME LOCALS CONSIDERED TO BE EXCESSIVELY RAINY CONDITION. WHILE
THE PRECIP WAS APPRECIATED, THERE WAS WELL BELOW AVERAGE SNOWFALL
DUE TO THE TEMPERATURES BEING SO HEAVILY MODIFIED BY THE OCEAN AND
THE PERVASIVE CLOUD DECK.
EARLY WINTER WOULD SIMPLY BE A CONTINUATION OF WHAT THE LATE FALL
WAS LIKE, WARMER THAT NORMAL AND SEEMINGLY ENDLESS DAYS OF RAINY
CONDITIONS, WITH FEW CHANCES FOR SNOW. THE EXCEPTION TO SNOW THOUGH
WOULD BE IN THE HAINES/SKAGWAY AREAS WHERE SUFFICIENT COLD AIR WAS
ALLOWED TO DRAIN IN FROM THE NORTH TO GIVE THEM SOME DECENT SNOWS.
THE GREATEST TOTALS WERE OBSERVED AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS ALONG THE
HAINES AND KLONDIKE HIGHWAYS. THE INTERIOR LOCATION OF HYDER ALSO
SAW ITS FAIR SHARE OF SNOWFALL BEING MORE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF
CONTINENTAL RATHER THAN MARITIME AIRMASSES. FOR MOST EVERYONE ELSE
AT SEA LEVEL, THE WARMER THAN NORMAL TEMPS KEPT SNOWFALL TOTALS SO
LOW THAT JUNEAU EXPERIENCED THE SECOND LOWEST AMOUNT OF SNOW ON
RECORD TO BEGIN A SNOW SEASON. THE WARMTH WAS SO UNCHARACTERISTIC
THAT MOST LOCATIONS ACTUALLY SAW COLDER TEMPERATURES AT TIMES IN
OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER THAN ANY LOW TEMP EXPERIENCED IN DECEMBER.
IN CONCLUSION, IT`S EASY TO SEE THAT 2019 WAS, FOR THE MOST PART,
ANOTHER WARMER THAN NORMAL YEAR. WHEN FINAL STATISTICS ARE COMPILED,
THE YEAR WILL LIKELY RANK WITHIN THE TOP 5 WARMEST YEARS FOR MUCH OF
THE PANHANDLE. FOR PRECIPITATION, MOST OF THE YEAR SAW THE PANHANDLE
PARCHED IN A DROUGHT THAT HAD EXISTED FOR MORE THAN A YEAR AND A
HALF BEFORE THE YEAR BEGAN. THE LATE YEAR UPTICK IN PRECIPITATION
DID RESULT IN A MAJOR MITIGATION OF REGIONAL DROUGHT CONDITIONS,
PARTICULARLY IN THE SOUTHERN INNER CHANNELS. THE EXCEPTION TO THIS
WOULD BE THE NORTHERN GULF COAST, WITH YAKUTAT RECORDING MORE THAN
A 4 FOOT PRECIPITATION DEFICIT FOR THE YEAR.
$$