Updated: The high temperature at the airport was 51F.
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
426 PM AKDT TUE APR 10 2012
...HIGH TEMPERATURE HITS 50 DEGREES IN FAIRBANKS....
...FIRST 50 DEGREE DAY OF THE YEAR...
THE TEMPERATURE AT THE FAIRBANKS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ROSE TO 50
DEGREES AT 330PM TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THIS IS THE WARMEST IT HAS BEEN
THIS YEAR AND IS FIRST TIME THE TEMPERATURE HAS BEEN AS HIGH AS 50
DEGREES SINCE OCTOBER 14TH.
OVER THE PAST 80 YEARS...THE AVERAGE DATE OF THE FIRST 50 DEGREE
OR HIGHER TEMPERATURE IN THE SPRING IN FAIRBANKS IS APRIL 10TH.
$$
RT APR 12
Why does spring warm up so fast in Alaska?
ReplyDeleteIn a nutshell, the dramatic and rapid increase in solar heating. Here's a link to a post about this from January, that plots a measurable of solar heating:
Deletehttp://ak-wx.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-much-solar-heating-is-there-in.html
Notice in the graphic that with clear skies the amount of heating triples between the beginning of March and late April. And for that calculation I kept the albedo constant, at a value typical for non-snow covered areas. Putting in realistic seasonal values in albedo would increase the change even more.
Rick