October Summary

Here's the October summary from the National Weather Service in Fairbanks:

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
852 AM AKDT FRI NOV 1 2013

...OCTOBER 2013 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FAIRBANKS ALASKA...

THE WEATHER FOR OCTOBER 2013 IN FAIRBANKS WAS DOMINATED BY WARM
AND DRY CHINOOK CONDITIONS AS A LARGE RIDGE FORMED OVER EASTERN
ALASKA. UPPER LEVEL WINDS AROUND THIS RIDGE DIRECTED MULTIPLE LOW
PRESSURE SYSTEMS WITH SUBTROPICAL ORIGINS NORTH OVER THE ALASKA
RANGE CREATING MULTIPLE EPISODES OF CHINOOK WARMING AND DRY
CONDITIONS ACROSS THE INTERIOR. THE 1ST OF OCTOBER WAS THE ONLY
DAY THAT THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS BELOW NORMAL. THE 4TH OF
OCTOBER AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS RIGHT AT NORMAL. EVERY OTHER DAY
IN THE MONTH WAS ABOVE NORMAL WITH THE THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE ON
THE 28TH OF OCTOBER WARMING TO AN INCREDIBLE 31 DEGREES ABOVE
NORMAL. THE HIGH ON THAT DAY OF 51 DEGREES WHICH SET A NEW DAILY
HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORD FOR THAT DAY. THIS BROKE THE OLD RECORD
OF 48 DEGREES SET IN 1923. THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE FOR THE
MONTH WAS 57 DEGREES WHICH OCCURRED ON BOTH THE 18TH AND THE 19TH
IN CONJUNCTION WITH A SIGNIFICANT CHINOOK WIND EVENT IN THE ALASKA
RANGE. THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 16 DEGREES ABOVE
AND OCCURRED ON THE 26TH. OCTOBER 2013 RANKED AS THE 3RD WARMEST
OF 109 YEARS OF RECORD AND WAS THE 40TH DRIEST OF 103 YEARS OF
RECORD WITH ONLY 0.59 INCHES OF PRECIP FALLING AT THE AIRPORT. THE
PALTRY 0.70 INCHES OF SNOW THAT FELL IN OCTOBER WAS 10.1 INCHES
BELOW THE NORMAL SNOW FALL OF 10.8 INCHES. THIS RANKED AS THE
100TH SNOWIEST OCTOBER OF THE 104 YEARS OF RECORD...OR IT RANKED
AS THE 4TH LEAST SNOWY OCTOBER ON RECORD.

THE AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE AT THE FAIRBANKS AIRPORT WAS 44 DEGREES
WHICH WAS 12 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 32 DEGREES.
THE AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE AT THE FAIRBANKS AIRPORT WAS 28 DEGREES
WHICH WAS 12 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL LOW TEMPERATURE OF 16. THE AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE WAS 36 DEGREES WHICH WAS AN INCREDIBLE 12 DEGREES ABOVE
THE NORMAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 24 DEGREES.

OCTOBER 2013 WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR ITS LACK OF SNOW FALL AND LACK
OF SNOW DEPTH ON THE GROUND. ONLY A TENTH OF AN INCH OF SNOW HAD
FALLEN AT THE AIRPORT THROUGH THE MORNING OF THE 31ST AND ONLY
TRACE AMOUNTS HAD FALLEN AT THE AIRPORT ON SEVEN OTHER DAYS. WITH
A VERY WARM GROUND AND WARM CHINOOK WINDS WHAT LITTLE SNOW FELL
QUICKLY MELTED ALLOWING ZERO SNOW DEPTH ON THE GROUND THROUGH THE
30TH OF OCTOBER. SNOW DEPTH AT THE AIRPORT REMAINED ZERO UP UNTIL THE
EVENING OF THE 31ST WHEN 0.6 INCHES OF SNOWFALL IN THE AFTERNOON
AND EVENING. SNOW DEPTH ON THE GROUND IS ROUNDED TO THE NEAREST
INCH SO THE 0.6 INCHES OF SNOW ON THE GROUND ON THE EVENING OF
THE 31ST WAS RECORDED AS A SNOW DEPTH OF 1 INCH FOR THE 31ST.
THE LAST MINUTE SNOWFALL PREVENTED MATCHING A LONG STANDING SNOW
DEPTH RECORD FOR THE 31ST OF OCTOBER. THE LAST TIME SNOW DEPTH ON
THE 31ST OF OCTOBER WAS ZERO IN FAIRBANKS WAS IN 1925 AND IS THE
ONLY OCCURRENCE OF ZERO SNOW DEPTH IN THE CLIMATE RECORD. THERE
HAVE BEEN 5 OCCURRENCES OF A TRACE SNOW DEPTH IN THE CLIMATE
RECORD...THE LATEST OCCURRING IN 1962.

LOOKING FORWARD TO NOVEMBER...THE AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE DECREASES
FROM 18 DEGREES ON THE 1ST TO 7 ABOVE ON THE 30TH. THE AVERAGE LOW
TEMPERATURE DECREASES FROM 3 ABOVE ON THE 1ST TO 11 BELOW ON THE
30TH. THE AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE DECREASES FROM 11 ON THE 1ST TO
2 BELOW ON THE 30TH. OVER THE LAST 108 YEARS THE TEMPERATURES HAVE
RANGED FROM 54 DEGREES ON THE 25 IN 1936 TO 54 BELOW ON THE 29TH
IN 1909. NOVEMBER AVERAGES 0.67 INCHES OF PRECIP WITH ALL OF THAT
FALLING AS SNOW IN MOST YEARS...HOWEVER RAIN EVENTS DO HAPPEN AS
MANY WILL REMEMBER THE CRIPPLING ICE STORM IN NOVEMBER OF 2010.
NOVEMBER AVERAGES 13.2 INCHES OF SNOW. POSSIBLE SUN LIGHT CONTINUES
TO DECREASE AT ABOUT 6 MINUTES PER DAY...FALLING FROM 7 HOURS AND
48 MINUTES ON THE 1ST TO 4 HOURS AND 45 MINUTES ON THE 30TH.

THE OUTLOOK FOR FAIRBANKS FOR NOVEMBER FROM THE CLIMATE PREDICTION
CENTER CALLS FOR EQUAL CHANCES OF ABOVE...NEAR NORMAL OR BELOW
NORMAL TEMPERATURES. THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER IS ALSO CALLING
FOR EQUAL CHANCES FOR ABOVE NORMAL...NEAR NORMAL OR BELOW NORMAL
PRECIPITATION.




OBSERVED LAST MONTH...10/2013

                         OBSERVED   RANK
AVG MAX TEMP (F)             44.0   5TH WARMEST OF 109 YEARS
AVG MIN TEMP (F)             28.2   3RD WARMEST OF 109 YEARS
AVG TEMP (F)                 36.1   3RD WARMEST OF 109 YEARS
TOTAL PRECIP (IN)            0.59   40TH DRIEST OF 103 YEARS
TOTAL SNOW (IN)              0.70   100TH SNOWIEST OF 104 YEARS

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