Interior Alaska finally caught up with the season yesterday and last night, as temperatures dropped rapidly in many locations to levels more characteristic of the time of year. There were some fairly impressive 24-hour and 48-hour temperature falls, including for example at Kaltag, which saw a change from 33 °F with rain at 8 pm AKST on Monday to -10 °F this morning. Compare the charts below, which show surface conditions (temperature in red digits) at 4 pm Monday (top) and 8 am today (bottom).
The lowest temperature reports that I came across include:
- -21 °F at the Norutak Lake RAWS, just south of the Brooks Range near the upper reaches of the Kobuk River
- -21 °F at the Noatak RAWS, in the Noatak National Preserve
- -18 °F at the Dahl Creek RAWS, near Shungnak
- -17 °F at Galbraith Lake, adjacent to the Dalton Highway on the north edge of the Brooks Range
- -16 °F at the Selawik RAWS (-13 at the ASOS)
Not too bad so far. Latest local WX discussion mentions three western coastal Alaskan storms potentially followed by a cold dessert from Siberia. There's some -30C air building over there in the traditional cool spots. I'd not want to be on the coast over the next few days with 50-70 mph winds and little shore protection from ice.
ReplyDeleteGary