Weather Ups and Downs

Observation by Julia Montero

In the State of Alaska, false springs are the concept of a warm week (or so) of very warm spring weather, just to be followed by heavy snow or significantly colder weeks following. This year, this has occurred multiple times in the previous months. Today is a day filled with cold weather, and rain engulfs the forecast for the next week and a half. Less than a week ago, shorts, tank tops, and sandals were reasonable attire for outside activity. It's interesting to observe the significant ups and downs of Alaska spring weather. With snow still on the side roads, yards, and mountains, it makes me wonder if summer weather will ever truly come.

LEO Says:

Anchorage tried to shake the long winter multiple times as you noticed. Snow depth in the Anchorage Bowl was unusually high this winter and as temperatures rose the winter conditions kept coming back. UAF provides climate tools for Scenarios for Network for Alaska and Arctic planning and we have included the temperature tool in the links. Rick Thoman from Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP) also weighed in to provide some insight and additional resources.

Comment by Rick Thoman

The scACIS website has some plotting options that might be of interest and has access to the NWS cooperative sites as well as airport sites like Anchorage International and Merrill Field. Below is the plot of daily temperatures through the end of June at the Eagle River cooperative station. Of course, Weather Underground also has data from a large number of home weather stations in the Anchorage and Eagle River areas, here, though data quality and availability varies.