April Weather Summary

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
1113 AM AKDT SUN MAY 1 2011

...FAIRBANKS WEATHER SUMMARY FOR APRIL...

...A VERY NORMAL MONTH...

TEMPERATURES FOR APRIL IN FAIRBANKS AVERAGED ALMOST EXACTLY
NORMAL. SOMEWHAT COOLER THAN NORMAL WEATHER AT MID-MONTH WAS
BALANCED BY WARMER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES THE LAST 10 DAYS OF THE
MONTH. OVERALL...THE AVERAGE HIGH WAS 44 DEGREES AND THE AVERAGE
LOW WAS 20 DEGREES. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 31.8 DEGREES FOR APRIL
WAS JUST 0.1 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THE HIGH TEMPERATURE FOR THE
MONTH WAS 59 DEGREES ON THE 23RD AND 24TH. THE LOW WAS 15 BELOW ON
THE FIRST.

PRECIPITATION WAS CHARACTERISTICALLY LIGHT. AT THE AIRPORT THE
TOTAL PRECIPITATION WAS JUST 0.07 INCHES FROM 1.7 INCHES OF SNOW
ON THE 7TH AND 8TH. TOTAL PRECIPITATION WAS SOMEWHAT HIGHER IN
OTHER PARTS OF THE AREA...INCLUDING 0.16 INCHES AT THE UNIVERSITY
OF ALASKA...0.17 INCHES IN GOLDSTREAM VALLEY AND 0.28 INCHES AT
KEYSTONE RIDGE.

THE WINTER SNOW PACK SLOWLY MELTED AWAY DURING THE MONTH...AND WAS
GONE AT THE AIRPORT BY THE 27TH. THIS IS ONLY A FEW DAYS LATER
THAN THE LONG TERM AVERAGE. WITH NIGHTTIME LOWS NEAR OR BELOW
FREEZING THROUGH THE END OF THE MONTH...BREAK-UP ON AREA RIVERS
WAS ONLY SLOWLY GETTING UNDERWAY...NO SIGNIFICANT ICE JAM FLOODING
PROBLEMS THUS FAR THIS SPRING.

LOOKING AHEAD TO MAY...WARMING CONTINUES AS THE SUN GETS HIGHER IN
THE SKY EACH DAY. AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURES INCREASE FROM 52 ON
THE FIRST TO 65 ON THE 31ST. AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURES INCREASE
FROM 30 ON THE FIRST TO 44 AT MONTHS END. IN THE PAST 104
YEARS...MAY TEMPERATURES HAVE RANGED FROM A HIGH OF 90 DEGREES IN
1947 TO A LOW OF 1 BELOW IN 1964.

NORMAL MAY PRECIPITATION IS 0.60 INCHES...NEARLY FOUR TIMES THE
APRIL AVERAGE. MOST OF THIS FALLS AS RAIN...AS TWO-THIRDS OF MAYS
HAVE NO MEASURABLE SNOWFALL. ON RARE OCCASIONS SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL
CAN OCCUR IN MAY...AND ACCUMULATING SNOW EARLY IN THE MONTH IS MUCH
MORE COMMON AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS. OVER THE PAST 80 YEARS...MAY
SNOWFALL HAS EXCEED THREE INCHES JUST FOUR TIMES IN FAIRBANKS.

POSSIBLE SUNSHINE INCREASES FROM 17 HOURS ON THE FIRST TO OVER 20
HOURS BY THE END OF THE MONTH. BY MID-MONTH ENOUGH TWILIGHT
PERSIST ALL NIGHT TO ALLOW FOR MOST OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES.

$$
RT MAY 11