Fairbanks August Summary

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PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
414 PM AKDT SAT SEP 1 2012

...AUGUST 2012 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FAIRBANKS ALASKA...
...NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION...

TEMPERATURES IN AUGUST WERE NEAR NORMAL. THE AVERAGE DAILY HIGH
TEMPERATURE WAS 66.5 DEGREES...WHILE THE AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE WAS
46 DEGREES. THE MONTHLY MEAN TEMPERATURE OF 56.3 DEGREES WAS JUST
2 TENTHS OF ONE DEGREE ABOVE NORMAL. THE HIGH TEMPERATURE FOR THE
MONTH WAS 78 DEGREES OBSERVED ON THE 14TH...WHILE THE LOW
TEMPERATURE WAS 37 DEGREES OBSERVED ON THE 22ND. SOME OF THE
TYPICALLY COLD LOW LYING AREAS DROPPED BELOW FREEZING ON THE
MORNING OF THE 22ND...INCLUDING LOWS OF 25 DEGREES AT ESTER
5NE...26 AT GOLDSTREAM CREEK AND 29 AT BOTH EIELSON AFB AND CHENA
HOT SPRINGS. URBAN AREAS AS WELL AS MOST HIGH ELEVATION SITES DID
NOT HAVE A FREEZE DURING AUGUST.

THE MONTH STARTED WITH A DECIDED LACK OF RAIN WITH ONLY 26
HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH AT THE FAIRBANKS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT THROUGH
THE 23RD.  ONLY 13 HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH OF RAIN FELL DURING THE
ENTIRE TANANA VALLEY FAIR FROM THE 3RD THROUGH THE 12TH...AND ONLY
3 HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH OF RAIN WAS OBSERVED AT NORTH POLE THROUGH
THE 23RD. THE LACK OF SIGNIFICANT RAIN ALLOWED THE DRY CREEK FIRE
11 MILES SOUTHWEST OF EIELSON AFB BASE TO SPRING BACK TO LIFE. THE
FIRE WAS INITIALLY STARTED ON JUNE 23RD BY LIGHTNING BUT REMAINED
INACTIVE DUE TO A COOL JULY. THE FIRE QUICKLY GREW DURING THE 3RD
WEEK OF AUGUST TO JUST OVER 40 THOUSAND ACRES BY AUGUST 24TH...AND
ENDED UP ACCOUNTING FOR NEARLY ONE SIXTH OF THE 249,021 ACRES THAT
BURNED STATEWIDE THIS SUMMER. SMOKE FROM THE FIRE MOVED INTO THE
FAIRBANKS AREA ON THE 18TH AND WAS NOTICEABLE AT TIMES DURING THE
NEXT SEVERAL DAYS...AND ALSO PRODUCED POOR AIR QUALITY AT TIMES.

WET WEATHER FINALLY MADE AN APPEARANCE IN THE FAIRBANKS AREA ON
THE 25TH AND 26TH WITH A TWO DAY TOTAL OF 1.07 INCHES OF RAIN. THE
82 HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH OF RAIN THAT WAS OBSERVED ON THE 26TH WAS
THE WETTEST DAY IN FAIRBANKS IN OVER 2 YEARS SINCE JULY 21, 2010.
THE MONTH ENDED WITH A TOTAL OF 1.43 INCHES...WHICH WAS 43
HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH BELOW NORMAL. NO THUNDERSTORMS WERE OBSERVED
AT THE AIRPORT THIS PAST AUGUST.

FOR THE METEOROLOGICAL SUMMER...WHICH IS THE 3-MONTH PERIOD OF JUNE
THROUGH AUGUST...THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 59.5 DEGREES WHICH WAS
6 TENTHS OF A DEGREE BELOW NORMAL.  IT WAS THE COOLEST SUMMER SINCE
2008.  A TOTAL OF 4.56 INCHES OF RAIN WAS OBSERVED THIS PAST
SUMMER...WHICH WAS 83 HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH BELOW NORMAL.  IT WAS
THE 9TH DRIEST SUMMER IN THE PAST 30 YEARS. THERE WERE ONLY 5 DAYS
THIS SUMMER WITH A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 80 DEGREES OR WARMER...WELL
BELOW THE NORMAL OF 11. MANY RURAL LOW LYING AREAS HAD ONE OR MORE
MORNINGS WITH TEMPERATURES DOWN TO FREEZING EVERY MONTH THIS
SUMMER.

LOOKING AHEAD TO SEPTEMBER...TEMPERATURES COOL SIGNIFICANTLY.  THE
AVERAGE HIGH DROPS FROM 62 DEGREES ON THE FIRST TO 46 DEGREES ON THE
30TH.  SINCE 1905...SEPTEMBER TEMPERATURES HAVE RANGED FROM A HIGH
OF 84 IN 1957 TO A LOW OF 3 IN 1992. AVERAGE RAINFALL IS 1.1 INCHES
WITH AN AVERAGE SNOWFALL OF 1.8 INCHES. SNOW IS RARE DURING THE
FIRST 10 DAYS OF THE MONTH AT LOW ELEVATIONS...BUT THE CHANCE OF
SNOW INCREASES DURING THE SECOND HALF OF THE MONTH. 1992 IS STILL
REMEMBERED BY LONG TIME RESIDENTS WHEN WINTER ARRIVED EARLY WITH
SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL AROUND MID MONTH...AND A TEN DAY TOTAL OF
OVER 2 FEET OF SNOW. MEASURABLE SNOWFALL HAS BEEN OBSERVED ON 19
OUT OF THE PAST 30 YEARS DURING THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER...OR 63
PERCENT OF THE TIME. POSSIBLE SUNSHINE DECREASES FROM 14 HOURS AND
33 MINUTES ON THE FIRST TO 11 HOURS AND 21 MINUTES BY THE 30TH.

THE FORECAST FOR SEPTEMBER FROM THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER CALLS
FOR AN INCREASED CHANCE OF ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION.  THERE ARE NO
STRONG CLIMATE SIGNALS THAT INDICATE AN INCREASED CHANCE OF EITHER
ABOVE OR BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES.