July Narrative Summary

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Fairbanks Ak
1211 Pm AKDT Mon Aug 1 2011

...Fairbanks Weather Summary For July...

Weather in July was fairly typical for an Interior Alaska mid-summer...with no extremes of temperatures. Rainfall…as is often the case this time of year...was highly variable.

At the Fairbanks Airport...the average high temperature was 71 degrees and the average low was 52 degrees. The average temperature of 61.8 degrees was 0.7 degrees below normal. The highest temperature for the month was 81 degrees on the 22nd. the low for the month was 45 degrees on the 17th and 20th.

Rainfall was highly variable in the area. At the Fairbanks Airport...the total July rainfall was 1.70 inches...almost exactly the normal of 1.73 inches. Measurable rain fell on 16 days during the month...three days more than normal. Thunder was hear at the airport on three days in july...which is also about normal. However...Eielson AFB measured monthly rainfall of 1.39 inches...just barely half of normal. In contrast…the College Observatory cooperative station on UAF West Ridge recorded 2.18 inches of rain in July…which is a tenth of an inch above normal.

Other July rainfall totals include...

University West..........2.84 Inches
Aurora.........................2.68 Inches
Goldstream Creek.......2.63 Inches
Gilmore Creek............2.12 Inches
East Farmers Loop.....2.01 Inches
Keystone Ridge...........1.90 Inches
Fort Wainwright..........1.33 Inches
North Pole..................1.31 Inches
Salcha River At Bridge...0.95 Inches

Much more rain fell in the uplands well east of town...which caused the Chena and Salcha rivers to rise to near flood stage on July 6th. The cooperative weather station at 43 mile Steese Highway recorded 5.53 inches of rain for July...while the automated station near Angel Creek in the upper Chena basin recorded 4.83 inches. Along the Salcha River...an automated gauge about 20 miles above the bridge recorded 4.54 inches of rain.

A couple of wildfires started mid-month on the flats south of Fairbanks...and the Bonnifield #1 fire grew to over 6000 acres by months end. This fire brought smoke at times to the area...which
on a couple of days was thick around North Pole and Eielson AFB.

Looking ahead to august...normal temperatures start to decline noticeably. The normal high temperature falls from 70 degrees on the first to 62 by the end of the month. Normal low temperatures fall from 51 degrees on the first to 43 on the 31st. In the past 106 years...august temperatures in Fairbanks have ranged from a high of 93 degrees in 1994 to a low of 21 degrees in 1922. Low lying areas usually have the first frost of the season in August.

Normal rainfall is 1.88 inches. Snow is very rare at valley level in August...though it has occurred a few times. Accumulating snow has occurred in town just once in August. On August 29th
1922...three inches of snow accumulated in Fairbanks.

Possible sunshine declines by more than three hours...from over 18 hours on the first to less than 15 hours on the 31st. Darkness returns to Fairbanks skies for the first time since late
April...and the first northern lights of the season at often spotted during the last ten days of the month.

$$

RT Aug 11