PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 835 AM AKST FRI FEB 1 2013 ...JANUARY MONTHLY WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FAIRBANKS ALASKA... JANUARY 2013 WAS A ROLLER COASTER OF INTERESTING WEATHER. THE MONTH OF JANUARY BEGAN UNSEASONABLY WARM...OVER 30 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL ON THE 1ST OF THE MONTH. TEMPERATURES FELL BACK TO NEAR NORMAL GRADUALLY THROUGH THE 10TH OF THE MONTH...UNTIL UNSEASONABLY WARM SOUTHERLY FLOW PUSHED BACK INTO THE INTERIOR BY THE 12TH. THE WARM AIR PLATEAUED ON JANUARY 14TH WHEN THE FAIRBANKS AIRPORT REACHED 37 DEGREES. THE WARM AIR WAS ACCOMPANIED BY A SWATH OF RAIN AND SNOW WHICH CAUSED WIDESPREAD TRAVEL HEADACHES THROUGHOUT THE FAIRBANKS AREA. AT THE AIRPORT...0.15 INCHES OF RAIN FELL...THE GREATEST JANUARY RAINFALL SINCE 1963. IN THE NORTH POLE AREA...SOME PLACES RECEIVED OVER ONE THIRD OF AN INCH OF RAIN...AND THROUGHOUT THE AREA MANY ROADS REMAINED ICE COVERED AT MONTHS END. FOLLOWING THE RAIN...TEMPERATURES COOLED BUT REMAINED ABOVE NORMAL MOST DAYS UNTIL STAGNANT ARCTIC AIR MOVED IN ON THE 25TH. THE THERMOMETER PLUMMETED TO THE 40S BELOW FOR THE FIRST TIME OF 2013 ON JANUARY 25TH. THE COLD SPELL OF LATE JANUARY DID NOT LAST LONG BUT THERE WERE SEVERAL DAYS WHERE AIR QUALITY EXCEEDED THE EPA HEALTH LIMITS FOR FINE PARTICULATE POLLUTION...AIDED BY THE USUAL STEEP TEMPERATURE INVERSIONS IN THE FAIRBANKS BOWL. OVERALL...THE AVERAGE JANUARY TEMPERATURE WAS 2.7 BELOW. THIS IS 5.2 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND MADE THIS THE MILDEST JANUARY IN FAIRBANKS SINCE 2002. THE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH OCCURRED ON THE 14TH WHEN THE FAIRBANKS AIRPORT REACHED 37 DEGREES. THE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 48 BELOW WAS REACHED ON JANUARY 27TH...WHICH TIES THE 48 BELOW REACHED ON DECEMBER 17TH FOR THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE OF THE WINTER SO FAR. JANUARY ENDS WITH A TOTAL OF 14 DAYS WITH TEMPERATURES OF 40 BELOW OR LOWER AT THE FAIRBANKS AIRPORT. FAIRBANKS HAS NOT REACHED 50 BELOW THIS YEAR...THOUGH SOME TYPICALLY COLDER PLACES HAVE...INCLUDING LOWS OF 54 BELOW IN TWO RIVERS...52 BELOW AT NORTH POLE AND 50 BELOW AT GOLDSTREAM CREEK. PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH OF 0.79 INCHES WAS 0.21 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY. DESPITE THE ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS...SNOWFALL FOR JANUARY OF 9.9 INCHES WAS ALMOST EXACTLY NORMAL. SNOW DEPTH INCREASED TO 19 INCHES BY THE END OF JANUARY. WITH THE CLIMATOLOGICALLY COLDEST PART OF WINTER BEHIND...FEBRUARY PROMISES TO DELIVER MORE NOTICEABLE DIURNAL TEMPERATURE RANGES AS THE MONTH PROGRESSES AND THE REGION GAINS OVER 3 HOURS OF POSSIBLE SUNSHINE BETWEEN THE 1ST TO THE 28TH. AVERAGE TEMPERATURES INCREASE FROM 6 BELOW TO 4 ABOVE BY THE END OF THE MONTH. THOUGH ONLY A 10 DEGREE AVERAGE INCREASE...THE NORMAL HIGH TEMPERATURES BY THE END OF THE MONTH IS 17 ABOVE. NORMAL SNOWFALL IN FEBRUARY IS 8.1 INCHES...THOUGH HISTORICALLY FAIRBANKS HAS OCCASIONALLY RECEIVED DAILY SNOWFALLS IN EXCESS OF TEN INCHES...MOST RECENTLY IN FEBRUARY 1996 AND 2011. THE FORECAST FOR FEBRUARY FOR FAIRBANKS FROM THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER CALLS FOR INCREASED CHANCES OF SIGNIFICANTLY ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES. $$ JM/RT
Friday, February 1, 2013
Fairbanks January Summary
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Hey Rick,
ReplyDeleteJust wondering - did a "1" get in by mistake - should that be 4 days of 40 below or lower, instead of 14?
Thanks for the blog!
Dana,
DeleteThat sentence is unclear: should be 14 days so far this winter with low temp of -40F or lower, 10 in December and 4 in January.
I'm betting my longjohns that March and maybe early April will be colder...any takers?
ReplyDeleteWhat? Nobody wants them?
Gary having some fun
(http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/fxus05.html)
Yeah, but real cold in mid-March means highs 5 below and lows 35 below with 11 hours of sunshine. :)
DeleteIt's a win-win...the longjohns are wooly mammoth warm and nearly new!
DeleteThe daylight will be welcome by March, just like a warm Feb if it all plays out.
Seems like March typically is one of those windy months driven by high pressure to the north and lows to the south. With us in between riding the tight isobars.
How the CPC folks sleep nights with all the possible choices is beyond me. They cash their checks regardless of the outcome.
Their partial toolbox, plus a few bones to shake around: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/tools.html
Gary
With the increased sunshine much more mixing so winds aloft mix down to the valley floor. My sense is that is not so true at elevation, i.e. March about the same windiness as January. I'll have to investigate that.
DeleteHi Rick. Late Feb through March may not be typically "more" windy in Fairbanks (???) on the valley floor. But west of Fairbanks in areas exposed to the Tanana Jet (or whatever) more than Fairbanks proper typically sees, March into April is a windy period.
DeleteLikely the most frequent daily wind events for the year in my experience. Always a breeze. The Livengood, Wien (main source), Minchumina and possibly Blair Lakes RAWS may reflect that observation, but I've not assessed the historic data. It's also visibly reflected in the POES IR scan.
Contributing factors I believe are increases in daily solar heating to the east/southeast, but mainly wind when the above mentioned High north-Low south gradient sets up across Alaska from late February through March, and sometimes into April.
The increase in mixing can be heard as the winds above get audibly louder as they penetrate the cooler air below on the valley floor in the early morning before midday. The trees on ridge tops start whipping about and are another source of noise.
I have pics from West Twin Lake of daily wind events that can sweep snow several hundred feet in the air off the lake surface and from surrounding trees in rolling waves, often day after day. Aeolian loess from Minto Flats can cover the terrain and lake after these events. It's a microclimate from Livengood to Minchumina that can be depended upon most years.
Gary
Weather thermometers come in handy to measure the temperature outside. Today’s models come in many styles and designs to suit your individual needs.
ReplyDeleteKnowing how you will use the thermometers will guide you on which one to buy. They vary in cost but you can find one for every budget.