Active Weather

The weather pattern has been very energetic and changeable across Alaska in recent days, leading to sharp cold in some areas, and wind and storm damage in others.

Coastal erosion and damage occurred down in Homer over the weekend, and far to the northwest Point Hope is without power today, owing to high wind.  Winds gusted to 68mph in Point Hope yesterday, and 93mph at nearby Cape Lisburne.  Today the high winds spread across the North Slope, with Utqiaġvik gusting to 62mph and temperatures rising above freezing.

Here's this morning's 3am MSLP analysis, courtesy of Environment Canada:

Several things can be noted here: the axis of high pressure across the southern interior, associated with cold weather at the surface; the strong pressure gradient across northwestern Alaska, producing the high winds; and the extraordinarily deep low pressure system to the west of Seattle, causing severe wind damage in Washington last night.

The cold yesterday morning was notable across the interior: -40° was reached on the Yukon Flats at Beaver, and Chicken saw -42°F.  Fairbanks reached -29°F at the airport, the coldest this early since 2020 - and we have to look back to 2011 to find colder conditions this early in the season.  The Salcha RAWS reached -37°F, the coldest this early since 2011.