Climatological Report (Annual)
Issued by NWS
Issued by NWS
000 CXAK57 PAJK 060722 RRA CLAYAK ...NEW CLIMATE NORMALS MARK THE NEW DECADE IN SOUTHEAST ALASKA... THE YEAR 2021 COINCIDED WITH THE START OF A NEW 30-YEAR CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD. EVERY 10 YEARS, THE METEOROLOGICAL VALUES THAT DEFINE WHAT IS CONSIDERED "NORMAL" FOR A PARTICULAR TIME AND PLACE ARE UPDATED TO REFLECT CHANGES THAT OCCURRED OVER THE PAST DECADE. TO SUMMERIZE THOSE CHANGES IN SOUTHEAST ALASKA, AS EXPECTED MOST LOCATIONS SHOWED WARMING FOR THE DAILY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES. JUNEAU, ON THE OTHER HAND, SHOWED MODEST INCREASES IN DAILY MAX TEMPS AND DECREASES IN DAILY MIN TEMPS, NETTING A ZERO CHANGE BETWEEN THE DATA SETS. FOR NEW NORMAL PRECIPITATION, JUNEAU AND KETCHIKAN SAW SIGNIFICANT INCREASES WHEREAS SITKA AND YAKUTAT REGISTERED A DECREASE. CLEARLY, THIS DEMONSTRATES THAT IT`S ALL ABOUT GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE, NOT GLOBAL WARMING. GRANTED, MOST PLACES, AND ESPECIALLY HIGH LATITUDE LOCATIONS, ARE SEEING PRONOUNCED WARMING WITH TIME. THE YEAR BEGAN WARMER AND WETTER THAN NORMAL ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA, CONTINUING THE TREND FROM THE END OF 2020. HOWEVER, BY THE END OF JANUARY COLDER AIR WOULD BEGIN TO SET IN OVER THE REGION. THIS NOT ONLY WOULD TURN THE CONDITIONS COOLER AND DRIER THAN NORMAL BUT WOULD ALSO SET THE STAGE FOR AN INTENSE ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE REGIME TO ESTABLISH ITSELF IN THE YUKON, USHERING IN BLUSTERY WINDS AND EXTREMELY FRIGID TEMPERATURES DURING THE SECOND WEEK OF FEBRUARY. MOST OF THE OFFICIAL CLIMATE SITES WERE SPARED FROM DAILY RECORD LOWS EXCEPT FOR KETCHIKAN WHICH DROPPED TO 6F AND 9F ON THE MORNINGS OF THE 9TH AND THE 10TH. SEVERAL DAILY RECORDS WERE SET AT OBSERVATION POINTS WITH SHORTER PERIODS OF RECORD. THE ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE WOULD EVENTUALLY MOVE SOUTH AND BECOME MUCH MORE FAMOUS FOR CRIPPLING THE TX POWER GRID AMONG OTHER THINGS, LEAVING BEHIND WARMER AND WETTER CONDITIONS TO CLOSE OUT OUR METEOROLOGICAL WINTER. A WARM START TO SPRING IN SEAK WAS VERY BRIEF AS CONDITIONS TURNED COLDER THAN NORMAL AFTER THE FIRST WEEK OF MARCH. THAT PROMISING START WOULD INSTEAD END WITH OBSERVATIONS IN THE REGION DURING THAT MONTH IN 2021 FAILING TO PRODUCE A SINGLE 50F TEMP. THESE COLDER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS ALSO LENDED THEMSELVES TO COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF SNOW. WHILE SEVERAL SITES WOULD END MARCH WITH HUGE MONTHLY TOTALS, PERHAPS THE MOST IMPRESSIVE SNOWFALL STATISTIC CAME OUT OF KETCHIKAN WHERE AN OBSERVER REPORTED A SINGLE STORM SNOW TOTAL OF 20.8 ON THE 13TH. SPRINGTIME FOR SOUTHEAST FINALLY ARRIVED IN APRIL THOUGH, AS A STAUNCH RIDGE SET UP OVER THE REGION MID-MONTH. TEMPERATURES REACHING 70F BECAME COMMON ACROSS THE PANHANDLE AND MULTIPLE DAILY RECORDS FELL FOR SEVERAL DAYS. ON THE 18TH OF APRIL KLAWOCK SET A HISTORIC RECORD BY HITTING 75F, THE EARLIEST SUCH OCCURRENCE IN A CALENDAR YEAR FOR THE STATE OF ALASKA. AFTER THE BLOCKING PATTERN THAT CAUSED THE WARMUP BROKE DOWN, COOLER BUT NEAR NORMAL AND WETTER CONDITIONS ARRIVED BACK INTO THE REGION AND WOULD HOLD OUT THROUGH MUCH OF MAY. THE BIG STORY FOR THE FIRST MONTH OF SUMMER (JUNE) ONCE AGAIN CAME WITH ANOTHER IMPOSING BLOCKING RIDGE SETTLING IN OVER THE PANHANDLE AND MUCH OF WESTERN NORTH AMERICA TOWARD THE END OF THE MONTH. DUE TO THE ORIENTATION OF THE RIDGE, SOUTHEAST ALASKA WAS SPARED FROM THE EXTREME HEAT THAT WAS EXPERIENCED THROUGH THE PAC NW AND WESTERN CANADA. THE DAILY HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORDS THAT WERE SET THROUGH OUR REGION DO NOT PROPERLY CONVEY JUST HOW IMPOSING THIS RIDGE WAS. BRITISH COLUMBIA, OREGON AND WASHINGTON WOULD SEE ALL TIME HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORDS SHATTERED (IN THE CASE OF BC, THIS WOULD ALSO INCLUDE THE ENTIRETY OF CANADA) DURING THIS HEATWAVE. WELL ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE WOULD PUSH MANY LOCATIONS TO EXPERIENCE ONE OF THE WETTEST (IF NOT THE WETTEST) FIRST HALVES OF A YEAR ON RECORD. TOWARD THE END OF THAT MONTH, WITH THE TAKU RIVER ALREADY IN MINOR FLOOD STAGE, A GLACIAL LAKE OUTBURST FLOOD WOULD CAUSE A RISE TO A NEW RECORD 45.5FT. THE BALANCE OF THE SUMMER WAS LARGELY UNEVENTFUL WITH JULY BEING DRIER THAN NORMAL AND AUGUST BEING WETTER THAN NORMAL. REGARDING TEMPERATURES, MOST OF THE PANHANDLE SAW A SLIGHTLY WARMER THAN NORMAL SUMMER HOWEVER THE NORTHEAST GULF COAST STAYED SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL. SEPTEMBER USHERED IN THE BEGINNING OF AUTUMN AS IT DOES EVERY YEAR, WITH FAIRLY TYPICAL CONDITIONS FOR THE TIME OF YEAR. YAKUTAT WAS THE FIRST TO OBSERVE A FREEZE ON SEPTEMBER 26TH, WHICH IS 6 DAYS LATER THAN NORMAL. THE OUTLIER FROM NEAR-NORMAL CONDITIONS OF THE MONTH WAS KETCHIKAN WITH OVER 9 INCHES MORE PRECIPITATION THAN NORMAL FOR THE MONTH. OCTOBER BEGAN WITH AN INTENSE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WITH HURRICANE FORCE WINDS IN THE 90S FROM EAGLECREST TO LINCOLN ISLAND IN CLARENCE STRAIT. THIS SYSTEM ALSO BROUGHT THE FIRST WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE SEASON FOR THE KLONDIKE HIGHWAY. THE MONTH WOULD END WITH TRICK-OR-TREATERS FINDING THEIR WAY THROUGH THE DENSE FOG IN JUNEAU, WHICH LASTED OVER 24 HOURS AND DISRUPTED TRAVEL. WIDESPREAD SNOWFALL FINALLY ARRIVED IN NOVEMBER, A BIT LATER THAN NORMAL, AND DIDNT STOP. SOME AREAS HAD 3 TIMES THEIR NORMAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH AS MANY AREAS WERE 2 TO 4 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL RESULTING IN SNOWFALL AS THE MAIN PRECIPITATION TYPE INSTEAD OF RAIN. A STRONG SYSTEM IN NOVEMBER ALSO CAUSED POWER OUTAGES IN WRANGELL. DECEMBER ENDS THE YEAR AS THE START OF ANOTHER WINTER SEASON, BRINGING WELL BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE PANHANDLE. NOTABLE OVERNIGHT LOWS OCCURRED ON THE 25TH AND 26TH AT KETCHIKAN WHERE THE TEMPERATURE DROPPED TO 0F BOTH MORNINGS, WHICH TIES THE SECOND COLDEST TEMPERATURES AT THE LOCATION DURING ANY DECEMBER ON RECORD. KETCHIKAN WOULD SEE THE GREATEST DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 10.5 DEGREES F BELOW NORMAL! DUE TO COLD TEMPERATURES AND CONSISTENT PRECIPITATION, THE SNOW KEPT PILING UP, ESPECIALLY ON ROOFTOPS. OVERALL, THE PANHANDLE SHOWED A SIMILAR STORY THIS YEAR AND ENDED WITH NEAR NORMAL PRECIPITATION, BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES, AND ABOVE NORMAL SNOWFALL. JDR/KRT