Monday, January 14, 2013

Rain Has Arrived

Fairbanks-land got a little bit of rain Sunday evening and more Monday morning. Temperatures are in the mid to upper 30s in the hills and near freezing in the valleys. The 9am AST Monday POES infrared image shows the big ridge over the Gulf of Alaska with deep subtropical moisture into South-Central and eastern Alaska.
Courtesy of NWS Alaska Region
The 3am AST Monday 500mb analysis from Environment Canada shows the deep southerly fetch:
Courtesy of Environment Canada

The morning sounding from Fairbanks, which was launched between showers, showed above freezing temperatures through almost the entire lowest kilometer of the atmosphere, excepting the lowest 50 meters:

The good news is that colder air is already into southwest Alaska (you can see this on the GOES image) and will more quickly eastward, and Fairbanks area should get some snow later Monday and Monday evening, which hopefully will help with traction on roads. 

6 comments:

  1. As always, Rick, I appreciate your blogging/comments - glad you took it up - better than the "weather reports" ;-) Cheers!

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    1. Thanks Terry,

      Are you presently down under? If so, hope you're staying cool and safe.

      Rick

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    2. Yes, I live here - just "closely" watched Cyclone Narelle pass by. Weather is not a boring topic ;-)

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  2. Thanks to the NWS and Murphy Dome Radar we were prepared for this. Just picked up my wife at the Upper Campus, rain on the way up, snow on the way down. The vehicle traction has improved as the snow mixes with the rain. Still, no day to be out and about unless required. Lots of EMS sirens going off here in town now.

    Gary

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    1. Not looking forward to the drive home tonight. Hopefully we'll get some accumulating snow to help with traction.

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    2. Not sure what's coming for snow...dropping temps may squeeze some out. The POES IR shows some banding, and Nenana-Tanana-Galena-Minchumina have good vis with Ruby lower as usual. Guess we'll see when the cold front passes.

      The rain has set up on the frozen ground and mixed with snow, so it's not as bad as the wet marbles were an hour ago.

      Gary

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