Fairbanks November Wx Summary

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PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
727 AM AKST SAT DEC 1 2012

...MONTHLY WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FAIRBANKS ALASKA...

NOVEMBER 2012 IN FAIRBANKS WAS EXCEPTIONALLY COLD WITH UNUSUALLY
LOW SNOWFALL.

COLD WEATHER WAS PERSISTENT BUT NOT EXTREME IN NOVEMBER 2012.
IN NOVEMBER 2012 THERE WERE NO RECORD TEMPERATURES ESTABLISHED...AND
ONLY THREE DAYS ALL MONTH HAD AN AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE ABOVE
NORMAL. THIS DIFFERS FROM NOVEMBER 2011 WHEN SIX DAILY RECORD LOWS
WERE TIED OR SET. FIVE DAYS THIS NOVEMBER WERE 20 DEGREES OR MORE
BELOW NORMAL...AND 17 DAYS HAD A LOW TEMPERATURE OF 20 BELOW OR
COLDER WITH ONLY NOVEMBER 1975 HAVING MORE SUCH DAYS.


OVERALL...AT THE FAIRBANKS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT THE AVERAGE HIGH
TEMPERATURE IN NOVEMBER WAS 0.4 DEGREES ABOVE ZERO AND THE AVERAGE
LOW WAS 17.9 DEGREES BELOW ZERO. THE AVERAGE FOR THE MONTH OF 8.7
DEGREES BELOW ZERO WAS 11.3 DEGREES COLDER THAN NORMAL AND MADE THIS
THE 6TH COLDEST NOVEMBER IN MORE THAN A CENTURY OF WEATHER
OBSERVATIONS. THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH AT THE AIRPORT
WAS 22 DEGREES ON THE 10TH...WHILE THE LOWEST WAS 31 BELOW ZERO ON
THE 30TH. THE TEMPERATURE DIPPED INTO 40S BELOW IN A FEW OF THE
NORMALLY COLDER LOW LYING AREAS DURING THE LAST TWO DAYS OF THE
MONTH. IN CONTRAST...TEMPERATURES AT SOME HIGHER ELEVATIONS DID
NOT DROP COLDER THAN 10 BELOW ANYTIME DURING NOVEMBER.

SNOWFALL WAS QUITE LIGHT IN NOVEMBER...AND ALL THE ACCUMULATING
SNOW FELL DURING THE FIRST TEN DAYS OF THE MONTH. THE MOST SNOW IN
ONE DAY AT THE AIRPORT WAS JUST 2.6 INCHES ON THE 10TH...AND THE
MONTHLY TOTAL WAS A MERE 4.2 INCHES. THIS IS ABOUT A THIRD OF
NORMAL. HOWEVER...THREE NOVEMBERS IN THE PAST 12 YEARS HAVE HAD
LOWER SNOWFALL. THUS FAR THIS WINTER ONLY 11.3 INCHES OF SNOW HAS
FALLEN...WHICH IS LESS THAN HALF OF NORMAL. SNOW DEPTH HAS BEEN
STEADY AT SIX INCHES SINCE MID-MONTH. THE LONG TERM AVERAGE SNOW
DEPTH AT THE END OF NOVEMBER IS ABOUT 11 INCHES.

SKIES WERE FREQUENTLY CLEAR AND WIND SPEEDS MUCH OF THE MONTH WERE
CHARACTERISTICALLY LOW...RESULTING IN EXTENDED PERIODS WITH VERY
STRONG INVERSIONS AND LOCALLY POOR AIR QUALITY IN THE FAIRBANKS
AND NORTH POLE AREAS. HOWEVER...WINDS GUSTED TO 20 MPH OR MORE
FROM THE 17TH THROUGH THE 19TH...WHICH HELPED CLEAR THE AIR AT
THAT TIME. THE FREQUENT CLEAR SKIES AT NIGHT ALLOWED FOR VIEWING
OF SEVERAL NICE AURORA DISPLAYS.

LOOKING AHEAD TO DECEMBER...AVERAGE TEMPERATURES SLOWLY FALL
DURING THIS DARKEST MONTH OF THE YEAR. THE NORMAL HIGH TEMPERATURE
FALLS FROM 7 ABOVE ON THE FIRST TO 2 ABOVE ON NEW YEARS EVE. THE
AVERAGE LOW FALLS FROM 11 BELOW ON THE FIRST TO 16 BELOW ON THE
31ST. IN THE PAST 107 YEARS...DECEMBER TEMPERATURES HAVE VARIED BY
120 DEGREES IN FAIRBANKS...FROM A HIGH OF 58 ABOVE IN 1934 TO A
LOW OF 62 BELOW IN 1961. AVERAGE SNOWFALL IS 12 INCHES...BUT HAS
BEEN AS MUCH AS 50.7 INCHES IN 1984 TO AS LITTLE AS A TRACE IN
1969. POSSIBLE DAILY SUNSHINE FALLS TO THE ANNUAL MINIMUM OF 3
HOURS AND 42 MINUTES ON THE SOLSTICE BEFORE STARTING THE LONG
CLIMB BACK TOWARD THE MIDNIGHT SUN OF JUNE.