Climatological Report (Monthly)
Issued by NWS Juneau, AK
Issued by NWS Juneau, AK
000 CXAK57 PAJK 041936 CLMAJK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK 1124 AM AKDT THU MAY 04 2023 ................................... ...THE JUNEAU CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL 2023... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1936 TO 2023 WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S) NORMAL ................................................................ TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 74 04/26/2003 LOW 6 04/05/1963 HIGHEST 58 04/20 60 -2 04/21 LOWEST 25 04/04 24 1 AVG. MAXIMUM 47.4 48.7 -1.3 AVG. MINIMUM 33.9 32.9 1.0 MEAN 40.6 40.8 -0.2 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 DAYS MAX <= 32 0 0.0 0.0 DAYS MIN <= 32 11 13.0 -2.0 DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 7.48 1999 MINIMUM 0.27 1948 TOTALS 4.70 3.47 1.23 DAILY AVG. 0.16 0.12 0.04 DAYS >= .01 24 17.2 6.8 DAYS >= .10 13 9.4 3.6 DAYS >= .50 3 1.6 1.4 DAYS >= 1.00 0 0.4 -0.4 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 0.74 04/05 TO 04/06 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 46.3 1963 SNOW DEPTH 33 04/04/1963 TOTALS 0.8 1.2 -0.4 0.2 SINCE 7/1 81.6 87.6 -5.0 MM DAYS >= TRACE 13 1.2 +11.8 5 DAYS >= 1.0 0 0.4 -0.4 0 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 0 0 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 724 726 -2 SINCE 7/1 7280 7525 -245 COOLING TOTAL 0 0 0 SINCE 1/1 0 0 0 FREEZE DATES EARLIEST 10/23 LATEST 05/09 ................................................................ WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 8.6 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 52/110 DATE 04/09 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 71/120 DATE 04/09 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 0 MIXED PRECIP 1 HEAVY RAIN 0 RAIN 5 LIGHT RAIN 26 FREEZING RAIN 0 LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 0 HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 0 LIGHT SNOW 12 SLEET 1 FOG 24 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 3 HAZE 0 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. $$ ...TEMPERATURES TRENDING BELOW NORMAL WITH PRECIPITATION ABOVE NORMAL FOR MOST SITES IN APRIL... Temperatures trended below normal by anywhere from 0.2 degrees to a full 1.0 degrees across most of Southeast Alaska in April. Skagway and Sitka, however, did come in above normal between 0.4 and 0.6 degrees. But then, that`s Skagway and they are about as far removed from a maritime influence as you can get in Southeast Alaska. Interestingly, Haines followed the trend for the rest of the Panhandle, recording a fraction of a degree below normal for the monthly temperature even though that location is generally similar to Skagway in terms of climate regimes. A departure of 0.4 to 0.6 degrees above or below normal is not too noteworthy, but when the numbers come in a full 1 degree different from normal, that is significant and meaningful in the world of climate and climate statistics. Across Southeast Alaska, the period of April 19th through the 23rd was the warmest period of the month with daytime highs above normal and overnight lows at or slightly below normal. Precipitation trended above normal for most of Southeast Alaska in the month of April. Exceptions noted include Klawock and Skagway. April is one of the driest months of the year in Southeast Alaska, so departures from normal ranging from 61.7% below normal to 35% above normal are not all that impressive when absolute normal monthly precipitation ranges from 3.47 to 10.25 inches. Sitka set a daily rainfall record on April 27th with 1.18 inches, which breaks the old record of 0.86 inches, which was set back in 1964. So why the colder than normal and wetter than normal trend? Very simply, Southeast Alaska wound up on the north side of the jet stream more often than the south side which generally leads to cooler temperatures and wetter than normal precipitation. Chambers/Fritsch $$