Hail Reports

The Fairbanks area saw some hefty showers and thunderstorms yesterday and last Friday, and hail was reported around town on both days.  The storm on Friday afternoon was isolated but quite intense, with three-quarter inch hail reported.  Here's a radar image from 3pm, when the storm's intensity peaked as it moved from northwest to southeast over the north side of town (click to enlarge):

Another cell dropped pea-sized hail at the NWS office on the UAF campus a little while later.

Yesterday saw a larger and more organized storm track into town from the northeast, bringing both hail (up to half-inch reported) and damaging wind gusts.  The radar reflectivity reached an impressive 65 dbZ over quite a lengthy track.

Courtesy of the NWS on Twitter/X, this was the view to the northeast from the airport at the same time as the radar image above:

There was an impressive display of mammatus clouds after the storm passed.  These clouds form as pockets of cold air, loaded with ice crystals, sink out of the high-level cloud shield that forms in the wake of a mature thunderstorm.

Here's a simple animation of the storm evolution on radar:

As of yesterday, Fairbanks is up to 7 days so far this season with thunder reported at the airport.  That's the same as last year at this date, and it's a little ahead of the long-term normal of 4-5 days.  The normal for the whole season is 9-10 days.

Statewide lightning activity has resumed climbing since Friday, and the year-to-date strike count total has nearly reached the median for the seasonal total.

The Lower Yukon region is now well above the 2012-2025 record.

Meanwhile, there's a heat advisory in effect for the interior North Slope, and the NWS forecast for Umiat is currently calling for 87°F tomorrow.  The RAWS thermometer there will no doubt be a few degrees too high as usual, so it will be interesting to see if we can get a 90°F reading - it would be the first since 2013.