December and 2012 Summary

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
1128 AM AKST TUE JAN 1 2013

...DECEMBER WEATHER SUMMARY AND 2012 REVIEW FOR FAIRBANKS ALASKA...

MOST OF DECEMBER WAS COLD AND TRANQUIL...BUT A SNOWY WEEK MID-MONTH
AN A BIG WARM-UP THE LAST DAYS OF THE MONTH TOOK THE EDGE OFF THE
BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES.

OVERALL...THE AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE AT THE FAIRBANKS AIRPORT WAS
9 BELOW AND THE AVERAGE LOW 26 BELOW. THE MONTHLY AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE OF 17.3 BELOW WAS MORE THAN 13 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL.
THIS WAS THE SECOND COLDEST DECEMBER IN THE PAST 30 YEARS. ONLY
DECEMBER 2010...WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 17.9 BELOW...WAS
COLDER. THE HIGH TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 34 DEGREES ON NEW
YEARS EVE. THE LOW WAS 48 BELOW ON THE 17TH. TEN DAYS DURING THE
MONTH HAD AN DAILY LOW TEMPERATURE OF 40 BELOW OR LOWER...THE MOST
IN ANY DECEMBER SINCE 1975. LOWEST TEMPERATURES WERE SIMILAR IN
OTHER LOW LYING AREAS...INCLUDING MONTHLY LOWS OF 50 BELOW AT
NORTH POLE AND 48 BELOW AT GOLDSTREAM VALLEY BOTTOM. IN
CONTRAST...TEMPERATURES AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS DROPPED IN THE 
30S BELOW ON JUST A COUPLE OF DAYS.

AS IS TYPICAL IN MID-WINTER...STRONG INVERSIONS PREVAILED ON MANY
DAYS DURING THE MONTH...SETTING THE STAGE FOR FREQUENT AIR QUALITY
PROBLEMS.

WITH THE LOW TEMPERATURE CAME CONSIDERABLE ICE FOG IN URBAN
AREAS...AND WAS ESPECIALLY DENSE ON THE 20TH AND 21ST. OUTSIDE OF
ICE FOGGY AREAS...AURORA WERE SEEN ON SOME CLEAR NIGHTS.

SNOWFALL WAS WELL ABOVE NORMAL IN DECEMBER...BUT WAS ALMOST ALL
PACKED INTO ONE WEEK. A TOTAL OF 18.5 INCHES OF SNOW FELL AT THE
AIRPORT...ABOUT SIX INCHES ABOVE NORMAL AND THE MOST IN ANY
DECEMBER SINCE 1992. PRACTICALLY ALL THE SNOW FELL BETWEEN THE 9TH
AND 14TH. THE BIGGEST SNOW FELL ON THE 12TH...WHEN 9.5 INCHES
FELL. THIS WAS THE EIGHTH HIGHEST DECEMBER CALENDAR DAY SNOWFALL
IN FAIRBANKS WEATHER HISTORY...AND THE HIGHEST ONE DAY SNOW IN
DECEMBER SINCE 1990. THE SNOW DEPTH AT THE AIRPORT TOPPED OUT AT
20 INCHES ON THE 13TH...BUT HAD SETTLED BACK TO 14 INCHES BY NEW
YEARS EVE.

THE SNOW MELTED DOWN TO 1.19 INCHES..WHICH IS ALMOST DOUBLE NORMAL
AND MADE THIS THE WETTEST DECEMBER SINCE 1990.

AS IS USUAL IN WINTER...WIND SPEEDS WERE MOSTLY VERY LIGHT. A
TOTAL OF 18 DAYS HAD A DAILY AVERAGE WIND SPEED OF LESS THAN 
ONE MPH...AND THE PEAK DAILY WIND SPEED EXCEEDED 10 MPH ON JUST
TWO DAYS.

LOOKING AHEAD TO JANUARY...FAIRBANKS AVERAGE TEMPERATURES REACH
THE LOWEST POINT IN THE ANNUAL CYCLE MID-MONTH BEFORE BEGINNING TO
SLOWLY CLIMB. BETWEEN THE 14TH AND 20TH THE AVERAGE HIGH IS ZERO
AND THE AVERAGE LOW 18 BELOW. IN THE PAST 108 YEARS...THE HIGHEST
TEMPERATURE IN JANUARY WAS 52 DEGREES IN 2009...AND THE LOWEST
66 BELOW IN 1934. NORMAL SNOWFALL IS 10.2 INCHES...LOWER THAN ANY
EARLY WINTER MONTH. TOTAL JANUARY SNOWFALL HAS VARIED FROM A
WHOPPING 65.6 INCHES IN 1937 TO A PALTRY 0.7 INCHES IN 1966.

POSSIBLE SUNSHINE...WHILE STILL IN SHORT SUPPLY...INCREASES
QUICKLY DURING JANUARY. THE SUN WILL BE UP FOR ONLY FOUR HOURS ON
NEW YEARS DAY BUT INCREASES TO JUST UNDER SEVEN HOURS BY THE 31ST.

...2012 FAIRBANKS WEATHER REVIEW...

THE COLDEST JANUARY IN 40 YEARS AND SUSTAINED UNUSUALLY COLD
WEATHER IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBERS MORE THAN MADE UP FOR
SIGNIFICANTLY WARMER THAN NORMAL WEATHER IN FEBRUARY AND
APRIL...FOR AN OVERALL AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AT THE FAIRBANKS
AIRPORT FOR THE YEAR OF 24.1 DEGREES. THAT MADE THIS THE COOLEST
YEAR SINCE 1999. THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE IN 2012 WAS 86 DEGREES
ON JUNE 23RD AND THE LOWEST 51 BELOW ON JANUARY 29TH.

PRECIPITATION TOTALED 10.62 INCHES...WHICH IS ALMOST EXACTLY
NORMAL. HOWEVER...THE SUMMER WAS DRIER THAN NORMAL. THIS LEAD TO A
VERY UNUSUAL FIRE SITUATION IN MID-AUGUST...WHEN THE DRY CREEK
FIRE...WEST OF EIELSON AFB...WHICH HAD STARTED IN LATE JUNE AND
SMOLDERED AT JUST 100 ACRES...FLARED UP AND GREW TO OVER 40000
ACRES BY THE END OF AUGUST.

SIX INCH SNOWFALLS ARE UNUSUAL IN FAIRBANKS...AVERAGING JUST ONE
DAY EVERY TWO YEARS...BUT 2012 BROUGHT TWO SUCH DAYS...ONE IN
MARCH AND ONE IN DECEMBER. HOWEVER...THE 2012 ANNUAL SNOWFALL
TOTAL OF 61 INCHES IS CLOSE TO NORMAL.

$$
RT JAN 13