September Summary

The Fairbanks-land weather summary for September…

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
1142 AM AKDT SAT OCT 1 2011

...SEPTEMBER 2011 IN FAIRBANKS...

...DRY AND MILD...

SEPTEMBER WAS A PLEASANT AUTUMN MONTH WITH PERSISTENTLY ABOVE
NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND MOSTLY DRY DAYS.

ONLY THREE DAYS DURING THE MONTH HAD AN AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE
EVEN SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL...WHILE AN EQUAL NUMBER OF DAYS HAD AN
AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE MORE THAN 10 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL.

OVERALL...THE AVERAGE HIGH IN SEPTEMBER AT THE FAIRBANKS
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WAS 59 DEGREES AND THE AVERAGE LOW WAS
39 DEGREES. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH OF 49.0 DEGREES
MADE THIS THE 10TH WARMEST SEPTEMBER IN MORE THAN A CENTURY OF
WEATHER OBSERVATIONS IN FAIRBANKS. THIS IS THE 7TH CONSECUTIVE
SEPTEMBER TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY WARMER THAN NORMAL...AND FOUR OF THE
TEN WARMEST SEPTEMBERS OF RECORD HAVE OCCURRED IN THE PAST 20
YEARS.

THE HIGH TEMPERATURE AT THE AIRPORT FOR SEPTEMBER WAS 72 DEGREES ON
THE 5TH AND 13TH...WHILE THE LOW OF 28 DEGREES OCCURRED LATE IN
THE EVENING ON THE 30TH. THE FIRST FREEZE OF THE AUTUMN AT THE
AIRPORT OCCURRED ON THE 25TH...WHICH TIED WITH 2006 FOR THE SECOND
LATEST FIRST FREEZE OF RECORD. AMAZINGLY...ALTHOUGH THE LONG-TERM
AVERAGE DATE FOR THE FIRST FREEZE AT THE AIRPORT IS SEPTEMBER
7TH...THIS IS THE SIXTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR IT HAS BEEN AFTER
SEPTEMBER 20TH.

EVEN IN TYPICALLY COLDER LOW LYING AREAS...TEMPERATURES IN
SEPTEMBER FAILED TO DROP BELOW THE 20S...WITH MONTHLY LOWS OF
20 DEGREES AT GOLDSTREAM VALLEY BOTTOM AND 23 DEGREES AT WOODSMOKE
NEAR NORTH POLE.

PRECIPITATION WAS SIGNIFICANTLY BELOW NORMAL. THE TOTAL FOR THE
MONTH OF 0.65 INCHES AT THE AIRPORT IS ABOUT 60 PERCENT OF NORMAL.
MEASURABLE RAIN FELL ON JUST NINE DAYS...AND ABOUT TWO- THIRD OF
THE MONTHLY TOTAL FELL ON THE 9TH AND 10TH. THE FIRST SNOW
FLURRIES OF THE SEASON FELL ON THE LAST DAY OF THE MONTH OVER MUCH
OF THE AREA. AT THE AIRPORT THIS IS ABOUT A WEEK LATER THAN NORMAL
FOR THE FIRST SNOW.

AUTUMN COLORS SEEMED UNUSUALLY LONG LIVED IN SEPTEMBER...AND ONLY
AFTER THE EQUINOX WERE TREES LARGELY BARE. THE MONTH ALSO FEATURED
SEVERAL NIGHTS WITH ACTIVE NORTHERN LIGHTS.

LOOKING AHEAD TO OCTOBER...THE WINTER SNOW PACK IS NEARLY ALWAYS
ESTABLISHED SOMETIME DURING THE MONTH...AND THIS HELPS
TEMPERATURES TO FALL DRAMATICALLY. THE AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE
DROPS FROM 45 ON THE 1ST TO 19 ON HALLOWEEN...WHILE THE AVERAGE LOW
TEMPERATURE FALLS FROM 28 DEGREES ON THE FIRST TO 4 ABOVE ON THE
31ST. TOTAL PRECIPITATION AVERAGES 0.83 INCHES AND AVERAGE
SNOWFALL 10.8 INCHES. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF RAIN ARE UNCOMMON IN
FAIRBANKS AFTER THE FIRST WEEK OF THE MONTH. THE PERMANENT
WINTER SNOW COVER IS ESTABLISHED...ON AVERAGE...ON OCTOBER 18TH.
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE DECREASES FROM OVER 11 HOURS DURING THE FIRST
THREE DAYS OF THE MONTH TO LESS THAN EIGHT HOURS ON THE 31ST. THE
FORECAST FOR THIS OCTOBER FROM NOAA'S CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER
CALLS FOR SLIGHTLY INCREASED CHANCES OF SIGNIFICANTLY BELOW NORMAL
TEMPERATURES.

$$
RT OCT 2011