Climatological Report (Annual)
Issued by NWS
Issued by NWS
756
CXAK57 PAJK 161456 CCA
CLAKTN
CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK
350 AM AKST THU JAN 14 2021
...................................
...THE KETCHIKAN CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE YEAR OF 2020...
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1910 TO 2021
WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S
VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S)
NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
HIGH 96 06/25/1913
LOW -7 01/23/1916
HIGHEST 81 07/31 78 3 80 07/06
07/05
06/27
LOWEST 2 01/14 9 -7 12 02/09
AVG. MAXIMUM 50.9 50.9 0.0
AVG. MINIMUM 40.4 39.3 1.1
MEAN 45.7 45.1 0.6 46.8
DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MAX <= 32 9 11.1 -2.1 10
DAYS MIN <= 32 83 85.3 -2.3 75
DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.1 -0.1 0
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 196.03 2003
MINIMUM 88.45 1995
TOTALS 175.10 141.25 33.85 141.21
DAILY AVG. 0.48 0.40 0.08
DAYS >= .01 241 233.9 7.1 204
DAYS >= .10 188 177.3 10.7 154
DAYS >= .50 109 92.4 16.6 92
DAYS >= 1.00 59 48.3 10.7 49
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 6.02 11/01 TO 11/01
DEGREE DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 6973 7262 -289 6458
SINCE 7/1 2899 3131 -232
COOLING TOTAL 5 9 -4 13
SINCE 1/1 5 10 -5
FREEZE DATES
EARLIEST 10/08
LATEST 04/12
................................................................
WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 8.2
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 78/160 DATE 10/14
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 59/170 DATE 01/30
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM 0 MIXED PRECIP 0
HEAVY RAIN 26 RAIN 109
LIGHT RAIN 250 FREEZING RAIN 0
LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 0
HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 3
LIGHT SNOW 46 SLEET 0
FOG 230 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 13
HAZE 5
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
$$
...RECORD WET SUMMER FOR MOST OF SOUTHEAST ALASKA...
THE ANNUAL CLIMATE FOR 2020 SHOWED A RECURRING THEME FOR THE PAST
FEW MONTHS OF A WARMER THAN NORMAL (1981-2010) YEAR. EXTREME
PRECIPITATION EVENTS OCCURRED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR AND HELPED ALASKA
BECOME OFFICIALLY DROUGHT-FREE BY MARCH 2020. NOW THAT WE HAVE MADE
IT TO 2021, LET US LOOK BACK AT THE CHANGES THROUGH THE SEASONS.
THE YEAR STARTED ON A WARM NOTE WITH MOST LOCATIONS ACROSS SE AK
HAVING THEIR WARMEST TEMPERATURES FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY EARLY IN
THE MONTH, WITH MANY AREAS EXPERIENCING HIGHS REACHING THE LOWER
40S. A DAY LATER, AN ARCTIC IMPULSE BROUGHT LOW TEMPERATURES DOWN TO
NEGATIVES VALUES WITH DAYTIME HIGHS STRUGGLING TO REACH DOUBLE
DIGITS. KLAWOCK AND KETCHIKAN RECORDED NEW DAILY RECORD LOW VALUES
DURING THIS TIME. BY THE MIDDLE OF JANUARY, AVERAGE TEMPERATURES
WARMED UP CLOSER TO NORMAL AND STAYED THIS WAY FOR THE REMAINDER OF
THE LATE WINTER SEASON(JANUARY/FEBRUARY). BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION
OCCURRED ACROSS THE PANHANDLE FOR JANUARY, BUT JUNEAU HAD ABOVE
NORMAL SNOWFALL DUE TO A STORM AT THE END OF THE MONTH AND 8 INCHES
OF NEW SNOW. THROUGH FEBRUARY, PRECIPITATION TOTALS FOR RAINFALL AND
SNOWFALL INCREASED, SETTING UP ALL CLIMATE SITES, EXCEPT YAKUTAT, TO
COMPLETE THE 2020 WINTER SEASON WITH ABOVE NORMAL VALUES. ON
FEBRUARY 21ST, HYDER RECORDED ITS LARGEST 24-HOUR PRECIPITATION
SINCE RECORDS BEGAN THERE IN 1936 WITH 4.54" (3.68" 1942). KLAWOCK
HAD ITS WETTEST FEBRUARY IN THE PAST TWO DECADES WITH 11.28" OF
RAINFALL FOR THE MONTH.
MOVING INTO SPRINGTIME (MARCH TO MAY), THE SEASON STARTED WITH A
MAJOR STORM EVENT BRINGING 9 INCHES OF NEW SNOW TO YAKUTAT AND
LEAVING EAGLECREST WITH ITS 4TH HIGHEST SNOWPACK ON RECORD. MOVING
THROUGH THE DATES, MARCH 7TH WAS THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE START OF
THE YEAR THAT JUNEAU DID NOT REPORT AT LEAST A TRACE OF
PRECIPITATION! BY MARCH 10TH, THE ENTIRE STATE WAS FINALLY DECLARED
DROUGHT-FREE WITH NO LOCATIONS EVEN LISTED AS ABNORMALLY DRY, THE
FIRST TIME SINCE JANUARY 2018. SITKA RECEIVED EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH
RAINFALL THROUGH MUCH OF MARCH, BUT WITH A DRY LAST WEEK, FAILED TO
SECURE A RECORD. ALL FOUR CLIMATE SITES ENDED THE SEASON WITH NORMAL
TO BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION. MARCH STARTED THE SEASON WITH NEAR-
NORMAL HIGH TEMPERATURES AND BELOW NORMAL LOWS, WHICH FLIPPED TO
NEAR NORMAL LOWS AND ABOVE NORMAL HIGHS BY MID-APRIL. THIS TREND
CONTINUED AND BROUGHT RECORD DAILY HIGH TEMPERATURES FOR MAY 9TH AND
MAY 10TH. OVERALL, CLIMATE SITES HAD NORMAL TEMPERATURES FOR MARCH
AND APRIL. FOR MAY, THE SPRING SEASON ENDED WITH AVERAGE
TEMPERATURES RANKING IN THE TOP 10 WARMEST ON RECORD.
TO START THE SUMMER SEASON (JUNE TO AUGUST), JUNE BROUGHT
PRECIPITATION LEVELS BACK TO WELL ABOVE NORMAL IN SE AK. DURING
JULY, THREE GLACIALLY DAMMED LAKES WERE RECORDED AS WELL. JULY 31ST
FEATURED A RARE WAVE OF THUNDERSTORMS ROLLING IN THROUGH THE EVENING
AND OVERNIGHT, PRODUCING GUSTY WINDS AND HEAVY RAINS. THIS DAY WAS
YAKUTAT`S WARMEST DAY FOR THE YEAR AT 80 DEGREES AND ALSO SAW SITKA
TIE A RECORD DATING BACK TO 1976 FOR THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE
RECORDED OF 88 DEGREES ON THIS DAY! OVERALL, THE SUMMER HAD NEAR
NORMAL TEMPERATURES, WITH A FEW DAILY RECORD HIGHS AT THE BOOKENDS
OF JULY. THE WETTEST SUMMER RECORDS WERE BROKEN BY BOTH KETCHIKAN
47.29" (46.99 2017) AND PETERSBURG 31.60" (31.06" 2015)!
AFTER A RECORD-BREAKING SUMMER IN TERMS OF RAINFALL, THE AUTUMN
SEASON (SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER) RETURNED TO BEING DRIER THAN NORMAL
THROUGH ALL THREE MONTHS. ALL FOUR CLIMATE SITES REPORTED WELL BELOW
THEIR MONTHLY NORMALS, RANGING FROM 40% TO 60% THEIR NORMALS. HAZE
AND SMOKE FROM THE WILDFIRES IN THE INTERIOR AND LOWER 48 BECAME
VISIBLE ON SOME DAYS HERE IN SE AK. THE DRIER THAN NORMAL OVERALL
WEATHER DID NOT MEAN THAT THE PANHANDLE WAS FREE FROM EXTREME
PRECIPITATION EVENTS. HEAVY RAINFALL ON OCTOBER 26TH RESULTED IN
NUMEROUS LANDSLIDES ON PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND. ON THE SAME DAY,
KLAWOCK RECORDED ITS 4TH WETTEST 24-HOUR RAINFALL TOTAL OF 3.60"
(3.94" 2003). A SECOND PRECIPITATION EVENT STARTED ON NOVEMBER 1ST
WITH RAIN FOR THE SOUTHERN PANHANDLE AND SNOW FOR THE NORTH. JUNEAU
RECORDED 7.6 OF SNOWFALL, WHICH WAS AN UNUSUALLY HEAVY START TO THE
SNOW SEASON. OVERALL, KETCHIKAN HAD IT`S 2ND DRIEST SEPTEMBER AND
OCTOBER 16.64" (16.50" 2018), BUT WENT ON TO HAVE ITS 3RD WETTEST
NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 60.77" (65.13" 1969). ON NOVEMBER 29TH, HYDER
RECORDED THE LARGEST 24-HOUR SNOWFALL SINCE RECORDS BEGAN THERE IN
1936 OF 27.8".
THE ANNUAL CLIMATE SUMMARY CONCLUDES WITH THE START OF WINTER,
DECEMBER. THIS HISTORIC MONTH STARTED WITH AN ATMOSPHERIC RIVER THAT
PRODUCED WIDESPREAD RECORD RAINFALL AND WARMER THAN NORMAL
TEMPERATURES WTIH GUSTY WINDS. FEW WILL SOON FORGET THE NUMEROUS
LANDSLIDES ACROSS SE AK AND THE TERRIBLE DEVASTATION THAT OCCURED IN
HAINES. IN ADDITION TO THE DEADLY LANDSLIDE, HAINES RECORDED THEIR
WETTEST DECEMBER ON RECORD WITH RECORDS GOING BACK TO 1925. JUNEAU
RECORDED THE LARGEST 24-HOUR RAINFALL SINCE RECORDS BEGAN THERE IN
1936 WITH 4.93" (4.62" 1946). THE WET TREND CONTINUED THROUGH THE
MONTH AND JUNEAU ENDED ITS 2ND WETTEST DECEMBER ON RECORD WITH A
TOTAL PRECIPITATION AMOUNT OF 12.74", MORE THAN DOUBLE THE NORMAL.
KETCHIKAN FOLLOWS A SIMILAR PATTERN, WITH 30.72" OF TOTAL
PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH, MAKING IT THE 4TH WETTEST DECEMBER ON
RECORD (STARTING IN 1910). THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN A CENTURY THAT
BACK-TO-BACK MONTHS HAVE EXCEEDED 30" OF PRECIPITATION IN KETCHIKAN.
YAKUTAT WAS THE ONLY CLIMATE STATION WHERE THE TOTAL PRECIPITATION
AMOUNT (11.09") WAS BELOW NORMAL (16.28"). DUE TO WARMER THAN NORMAL
TEMPERATURES, TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATION IN JUNEAU FOR DECEMBER WAS
8.3", 47% BELOW NORMAL. ON DECEMBER 24TH, HYDER RECORDED ITS 2ND
LARGEST 24-HOUR SNOWFALL OF 23.0". FOR THE FIRST 7 DAYS OF DECEMBER,
AVERAGE TEMPERATURES STARTED SIGNIFICANTLY WARMER, AND THIS TREND
CONTINUED THROUGH THE MONTH. BY THE END OF THE MONTH, ALL FOUR SITES
ENDED WITH A MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 5 DEGREES WARMER THAN
NORMAL!
LOOKING AT ANNUAL VALUES, MOST CLIMATE SITES ENDED THE YEAR WITH THE
COLDEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE SINCE 2012. FOR PRECIPITATION, KETCHIKAN
HAD ITS 11TH WETTEST YEAR AND JUNEAU ITS 5TH WETTEST YEAR 77.55"
(85.15" 1991). WITH A GOOD START TO SNOWFALL IN JANUARY, JUNEAU
STAYED ABOVE NORMAL WITH 91.5" (86.7" NORMAL). HYDER BROKE ITS 24-
HOUR PRECIPITATION AND SNOWFALL RECORDS THIS YEAR! YAKUTAT WAS THE
ONE CLIMATE SITE THAT ENDED THE YEAR WITH DRY CONDITIONS, 104.55" OF
PRECIPITATION (85.99 1950 DRIEST).
$$