For the first time in modern history, Fairbanks recorded a low temperature in 70s. The low Tuesday of 70ºF. The only other occurrence of a low in the 70s was on June 26, 1915. There was a thunderstorm that day that produced more than one tenth of an inch of rain, so this observation is, to say the least, questionable.
The high Tuesday of 92ºF tied the record high for the date. The daily mean on 81ºF is the highest reliable daily mean at Fairbanks of record, exceeding the previous record of 80ºF (high 94, low 66) on July 11, 1975.
Rick,
ReplyDeleteNow that's an impressive record. Folks must be wondering what hit them just five weeks after the ice went out.
It seems like the problem of spurious high minimum temperatures is a feature of the AK data record prior to 1920... I combed through the GHCN data and found 25 supposed occurrences of low temperatures above 72 (no q/c flags)... of these, only 3 were after 1920. I wonder what the problem was back then.
None of the 3 modern reports looks particularly likely to be correct, so I wonder if you have an opinion on the highest legitimate recorded daily low temperature in Alaska?
Richard
Richard,
DeleteThat is a good question, and I don't have a certain answer, though this 70F at Fairbanks must be close. The June 1991 heat wave produced some very warm mins at mid-elevations, though in a quick search I'm not finding any RAWS with a min above 70F.