819
CXAK57 PAJK 022159
CLMASI
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK
152 PM AKDT THU NOV 02 2023

...................................

...THE SITKA CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER 2023...

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1991 TO 2020
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1944 TO 2023

WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART   LAST YEAR`S
                VALUE   DATE(S)   VALUE   FROM     VALUE
                                          NORMAL
..............................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
 HIGH             70   10/04/2022
 LOW              20   10/30/1984
HIGHEST           63   10/13         59       4
LOWEST            29   10/23         32      -3
                       10/24
AVG. MAXIMUM    54.0               50.8     3.2
AVG. MINIMUM    44.9               41.9     3.0
MEAN            49.5               46.4     3.1
DAYS MAX >= 90     0                0.0     0.0
DAYS MAX <= 32     0                0.0     0.0
DAYS MIN <= 32     4                1.9     2.1
DAYS MIN <= 0      0                0.0     0.0

PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
 MAXIMUM       30.84   1978
 MINIMUM        4.78   2016
TOTALS         13.87              11.78    2.09
DAILY AVG.      0.45               0.38    0.07
DAYS >= .01       23               23.7    -0.7
DAYS >= .10       17               19.1    -2.1
DAYS >= .50       11                9.1     1.9
DAYS >= 1.00       3                3.1    -0.1
GREATEST
 24 HR. TOTAL   3.18   10/18 TO 10/19


DEGREE DAYS
HEATING TOTAL    473                578    -105
 SINCE 7/1      1059               1436    -377
COOLING TOTAL      0                  0       0
 SINCE 1/1         4                  1       3

FREEZE DATES
EARLIEST      10/08             10/08
LATEST                          03/14
..............................................................

WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              7.4
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    36/160    DATE  10/09
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    49/150    DATE  10/09


WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM              0     MIXED PRECIP               0
HEAVY RAIN                8     RAIN                      17
LIGHT RAIN               23     FREEZING RAIN              0
LT FREEZING RAIN          0     HAIL                       0
HEAVY SNOW                0     SNOW                       0
LIGHT SNOW                0     SLEET                      0
FOG                      18     FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE      0
HAZE                      6

-  INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R  INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T  INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.

$$

...WET WARM OCTOBER START WITH COLD DRY END TO THE MONTH OVER SE
ALASKA...

After trending significantly wetter and warmer than normal for much
of the month, the end of October was significantly cooler, but
October was still above normal, overall, for Southeast Alaska.
Precipitation virtually ended by the 4th week of the month and
overall monthly totals ranged from slightly below normal to two
inches above normal.

A deluge of many back-to-back frontal systems with associated heavy
rain brought with them plentiful warm air advection to Southeast
Alaska for the first 2/3 of the month. This brought our typical more
flashy streams up to action and/or minor flood stage. This also kept
our temperatures above normal and our rainfall totals much above
normal for that part of the month. A few locations broke rainfall
and precipitation records for this timeframe. On the 7th, the Juneau
Airport reported 1.88 inches of rainfall, which broke their old
record of 1.43 inches set back in 1984. On the 17th, Ketchikan
Airport reported 6.69 inches of rainfall, which broke their previous
record of 3.7 inches which was set in 2010. On the 18th, Juneau
Airport, once again, reported 1.88 inches of rainfall, which broke
their old record of 1.51 inches set back in 1964. On that same day,
Sitka Airport reported 2.63 inches of rainfall, which broke their
previous record of 2.49 inches, which was set back in 1978.

Then, for the last third of the month, Southeast Alaska went into a
dominant dry and cold northerly outflow pattern from a persistent
blocking strong ridge of high pressure generally centered over the
Yukon region of Canada. The resulting northerly strong offshore flow
advected cold and dry continental air over the region. This allowed
temperatures to fall much below normal for the last third of the
month. Precipitation during this time virtually dried up, causing
above normal monthly accumulations through 20 October to fall to
near normal or even slightly below normal by the end of the month.
The Skagway area received its first accumulating snow of the season
with around 2 inches in the area from a wave that moved over the
area from the north at the beginning of the cold arctic outbreak. A
few locations broke low temperature records during this timeframe.
On the 13th, Sitka Airport reported a high temperature of 63
degrees, which tied their old record, which was set back in 1969. On
the 14th, Juneau reported a high temperature of 57 degrees, which
broke their old record of 56, which was set back in 1991.  On the
17th, Sitka reported a high temperature of 59 degrees, which tied
their old record, which was set back in 1944. On the 23rd, Sitka
tied their old record low temperature of 29 degrees, which was set
in 2004, 2012, and 2020. On the 24th, Juneau Airport reported an
overnight low of 18 degrees, which broke the old record of 19, which
was set back in 1951.


Chambers/Fritsch
$$