Climatological Report (Monthly)
Issued by NWS Juneau, AK
Issued by NWS Juneau, AK
824 CXAK57 PAJK 042029 CLMAJK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK 1121 AM AKST THU JAN 04 2024 ................................... ...THE JUNEAU CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER 2023... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1936 TO 2024 WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE NORMAL .............................................................. TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 54 12/08/2017 12/23/1999 12/12/1944 LOW -21 12/31/1949 HIGHEST 48 12/30 44 4 LOWEST 23 12/19 5 18 AVG. MAXIMUM 39.5 34.7 4.8 AVG. MINIMUM 32.3 25.9 6.4 MEAN 35.9 30.3 5.6 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 DAYS MAX <= 32 0 10.1 -10.1 DAYS MIN <= 32 17 21.1 -4.1 DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.5 -0.5 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 13.61 1997 MINIMUM 0.49 1983 TOTALS 10.61 6.53 4.08 DAILY AVG. 0.34 0.21 0.13 DAYS >= .01 25 21.1 3.9 DAYS >= .10 20 13.9 6.1 DAYS >= .50 7 4.2 2.8 DAYS >= 1.00 2 1.2 0.8 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 2.01 12/14 TO 12/15 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 54.7 TOTALS 13.2 18.1 -4.9 8.4 SINCE 7/1 19.7 32.8 -13.1 DAYS >= TRACE 18 10.1 7.9 18 DAYS >= 1.0 5 5.0 0.0 2 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 894 1076 -182 SINCE 7/1 3093 3696 -603 COOLING TOTAL 0 0 0 SINCE 1/1 8 2 6 FREEZE DATES RECORD EARLIEST 08/24/1969 LATEST 06/13/1965 EARLIEST 10/21 LATEST 05/05 .............................................................. WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 10.6 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 47/110 DATE 12/12 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 65/110 DATE 12/12 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 0 MIXED PRECIP 1 HEAVY RAIN 0 RAIN 9 LIGHT RAIN 27 FREEZING RAIN 0 LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 0 HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 3 LIGHT SNOW 19 SLEET 0 FOG 28 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 2 HAZE 0 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. $$ ...ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AT THE START OF AN EL NINO WINTER... Multiple record high temperatures during the month were completely congruent with a strong El Nino. In fact, Juneau finished the month nearly 6 degrees above normal for daily average temperatures and a full 6 inches below normal for snowfall. The remaining climate sites in Southeast Alaska also recorded 4 to 5 degrees above normal for their daily average temps. Unfortunately, there is no longer snowfall information for those locations, but it sure would be nice to know how they measured when compared to their climate normal values. While there was a dearth of snow for most of Southeast Alaska, Skagway and Haines and the associated highways got quite a bit of it. 4 separate winter storm warnings were issued for these locations with all of them verifying. One event even included an avalanche near Klukwan that was captured in a photograph. A quick glance at the daily data for all 4 climate sites indicates that the above normal monthly temps was more a result of daytime highs rather than overnight lows. This departs from the typical trend we have observed for many months where overnight lows were more responsible for the warmer than normal temperatures. In keeping with the trend from this Autumn, all 4 sites finished the month with significantly above normal precipitation and Sitka nearly achieving record precipitation for December. There is an established and well studied connection between above normal normal temperatures and the strong El Nino. Recent studies are hinting at a similar relationship regarding precipitation too. The month also saw a series of strong Autumn storms which, in addition to producing heavy rain, resulted in high winds across much of the Panhandle and northeast gulf coast. At various times during the month, high wind warnings were issued for Yakutat, Skagway, Juneau, Sitka, Prince of Wales Island, Ketchikan, and Metlakatla. Fritsch $$