Climate highlights in Alaska

The following comments are from Kevin Hester

“I received an email from Dahr Jamail staff reporter at Truthout yesterday from Barrow Alaska, Dahr is there interviewing scientists about the melting permafrost and emissions, he said it is occuring even more rapidly than he expected.

“Keep an eye out on his personal Facebook and at Truthout.org for updates.”

Emissions from melting permafrost in Alaska occuring more rapidly than expected

US National Weather Service Alaska, via Facebook

The highlight of July’s climate for Alaska was the persistently warm weather (especially overnight low temperatures) over much of the mainland. 

As a result, several Interior locations, including Bettles, Tanana and McGrath recorded not only the warmest July but also the warmest calendar month of record. 

On the North Slope, July was excessively warm. Barrow recorded the warmest July in nearly a century of climate observations, while the Deadhorse Airport at Prudhoe Bay saw five days with highs in the 70s. 

Southcentral saw temperatures generally near to slightly above normal. Southeast was the only region with generally cooler than average temperatures for the month. 

Southeast was also significantly wetter than normal, as was the West Coast. 

Over the Interior, rainfall was highly variable, depending mostly on where rain fell from thunderstorms.