ALASKA WEATHER & CLIMATE HIGHLIGHTS SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2015

ICING

HIGH SNOW

HIGH WIND

HIGH RAIN

FREEZING

RAIN

INTERIOR ALASKA

Two significant early-season snowstorms hit the Fairbanks

area in late September. On Sept 25, 4–9" snow fell at 

lower elevations but melted before another 8–16" fell 

Sept 28–30. During the 2nd storm, 20,000+ customers 

lost power for a day or more as snow-laden trees fell 

into power lines. Power outages were widespread across 

Fairbanks, including some areas of North Pole and 

south towards Nenana. On Sept 30 the University of 

Alaska Fairbanks cancelled classes and public schools 

were closed due to poor road conditions and risk of 

power lines across roadways.

Denali area: Heavy snow on south side of Alaska 

Range closed Parks Highway at times on Nov 25. 

South of Cantwell, 3–4' snow fell over several 

days, causing snow slides. A weather station near 

Chulitna River north of Trapper Creek received 

a whopping 97" snow during November. 

Unalaska/Dutch Harbor: Nov 11 storm 

produced damaging winds, which gusted to 

91 mph at Dutch Harbor Airport and 93 mph 

at Atkutan. Several buildings had windows blown 

out and at least one home suffered structural damage. 

Schools closed due to threat of blowing debris. 

Bering Sea: A strong Bering Sea storm Nov 

16–17 brought high water to most coastal 

communities from Bering Strait south to 

Nunivak Island. At Scammon Bay high seas 

and waves sank 5 boats; 2 others drifted away.

North Slope: Temperatures averaged well above normal, 

though overall this was the coolest autumn since 2011. 

Due to sharp decline in autumn sea ice coverage in 

recent years, only one autumn since 2000 has been 

cooler than long term average.

SOUTHEAST ALASKA

At Ketchikan on Oct 9, 3+" rain 

fell and winds peaked at 62 mph. Power was knocked out 

from downed trees on power lines. Winds gusted to 76 

mph at Hydaburg. Almost 3.5” rain fell in Haines area 

Nov 27–29, with multiple landslides that closed at least 

one area road for 8 hours. A foot of snow in the Juneau

area Nov 17–18 caused multiple fender-benders. Yakutat

received almost 11” snow, and up to 10” snow fell at 

Pelican and Elfin Cove.

HAINES

SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA

On Nov 9, 1–3" snow and freezing combined with mild 

road surface temperatures to create a solid ice covering 

on many Anchorage area roads, resulting in multiple 

minor accidents and forcing closure of Anchorage area 

schools. On Nov 24–25 freezing rain 

forced closure of most schools in 

Mat-Su school district.

JUNEAU

ANCHORAGE

FAIRBANKS 

BARROW

HEALY AREA

W DENALI NP

ATIGUN PASS

NULATO

NUNIVAK I.

UNALASKA/

DUTCH 

HARBOR

SCAMMMON BAY

KETCHIKAN

HYDABURG

YAKUTAT

alaska precipitation, inches september–november 2015

“Significantly Wetter” = Within the Wettest third 

of values compared to the 1981–2010 reference period

“Significantly Drier” = Within the driest third of

values compared to the 1981–2010 reference period

NEAR NORMAL

NEAR NORMAL

NEAR NORMAL

SIGNIFICANTLY WETTER 

THAN NORMAL

SIGNIFICANTLY DRIER 

THAN NORMAL

0.98

2.95

5.90

11.73

13.53

22.39

9.66

8.25

6.78

6.35

7.43

8.95

11.37

6.75

10.69 36.94

1.21

3.54

3.20

53.24 30.74

42.90

58.37

data and analyses are preliminary and subject to revision.

juneau

anchorage

barroW

cold bay

ketchikan

nome

denali np

homer

kodiak

bettles 

king salmon

bethel

pribilofs

northWay

eagle

talkeetna gulkana

cordova yakutat

sitka

kotzebue

prudhoe bay

ivotuk Wx

mcgrath

kaltag

tanana

fairbanks 

alaska temperatures, °F september–november 2015

“Significantly above” = Within the Warmest third 

oF values compared to the 1981–2010 reFerence period

“Significantly below” = Within the coolest third 

oF values compared to the 1981–2010 reFerence period

18.2

17.8

28.7

31.9

35.3

41.5

40.0

44.0

41.9

36.8

31.1

23.1

27.8

26.8

26.3

26.1

24.7

29.5

40.1 32.3

43.3

46.9

42.1

47.5

SIGNIFICANTLY 

ABOVE NORMAL

data and analyses are preliminary and subject to revision.

NEAR NORMAL

NEAR NORMAL

NEAR NORMAL

juneau

anchorage

Fairbanks 

sitka petersburg

barroW

prudhoe bay

cold bay

ketchikan

nome

denali np

cordova yakutat

bettles 

ivotuk Wx

homer

kodiak

king salmon

bethel

kotzebue

eagle

northWay

gulkana

pribiloFs

mcgrath

kaltag

tanana

Data and analyses are preliminary and subject to revision. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

NAT OI NAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRAT OI N

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

ALASKA REGION SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2015

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook

WEATHER AND CLIMATE HIGHLIGHTS

“Significantly above/below” = within the warmest/coolest third of values 

compared to 1981–2010 reference period

“Significantly wetter/drier” = within the wettest/driest third of values 

compared to 1981–2010 reference period

TEMPERATURE ANOMALIES PRECIPITATION ANOMALIES
Three-month outlooks for temperature (left) and precipitation (right) for Alaska. 

EC=equal chances for A, N, B. A=above, N=normal, B=below. 

Created 17 Dec 2015, 0.5 month lead, valid Jan-Feb-Mar 2016.

Visit ncdc.noaa.gov for more climate news. For more information, please contact: DECEMBER 2015

JAMES PARTAIN james.partain@noaa.gov • RICK THOMAN richard.thoman@noaa.gov #regionalclimateoutlooks 

ALASKA REGION PARTNERS 

Alaska Center for Climate Assessment & Policy • Alaska Climate Research Center • Alaska Climate Science Center • Cryosphere Today (University of Illinois) 

NOAA / NWS Weather Forecast Offices in Fairbanks, Anchorage and Juneau • NOAA / NESDIS / NCEI • Scenarios Network for Alaska + Arctic Planning

CLIMATE DIVISIONS HIGHLIGHT: TEMPERATURE RANKINGS FOR 2014 AND 2015

REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: A YEAR OF EXTREMES

Based on analysis by the National Centers for Environmental Information, 

2014 was the warmest year of record (since 1925) for Alaska as a whole. 

However, much of the warmth was concentrated in western and northern 

parts of the state. In fact, the Panhandle, while certainly significantly warmer 

than average, was not exceptionally warm. 2015 has followed suit, and is on 

track to be, like 2014, one of the warmest years of record in Alaska. 

Here we show the ranks of 13 Alaska climate divisions for 2014 (left) 

and 2015 through November (right). While final rankings in some regions 

may change depending on how December turns out, in 2015 warmth is 

clearly more evenly distributed, with all divisions very likely have a “top 5” 

ranking. Causes of the warmth are in part due to sustained warmer than 

average ocean surface temperatures in the seas surrounding Alaska, and 

to significantly reduced sea ice coverage near Alaska during summer and 

autumn compared to before the late 1990s. 

Highlights of 2015 include the very low snow pack in February and March 

that forced cancellation of the Wold Championship Sled Dog races at 

Fur Rondy and moved the Iditarod restart to Fairbanks. Low snow cover 

in Southcentral Alaska and a record warm May in much of the Interior 

set the stage for an extreme wildfire season. More than 5 million acres 

burned, much of that in 5 weeks from mid June to late July. Several wildfires 

destroyed homes and even more forced evacuations. Overall this was the 

second largest wildfire season since 1950, behind only 2004. Never has so 

much of Alaska burned in so little time. 

Record heavy precipitation and snowfall fell in parts of the Interior in late 

September; more than 20,000 homes and businesses were without power 

in the Fairbanks area during the last days of the month, some for up to a 

week. In October the remains of Hurricane Oho brushed Southeast Alaska, 

making this only the third time in the past century that Southeast has been 

directly impacted by an ex-hurricane. In December one of the deepest 

storms on record in the North Pacific and Bering Sea produced wind gusts 

to over 120 mph at Adak, causing considerable property damage. 

NORTH SLOPE

WEST COAST

CENTRAL

INTERIOR

NORTHEAST

INTERIOR

SOUTHEAST

INTERIOR

COOK

INLET

BRISTOL BAY

WESTERN

GULF COAST

NORTHEAST

GULF COAST

NORTHERN 

PANHANDLE

TEMPERATURE RANKINGS, 2014

Record Warmest

Much Above Average

Above Average

SOUTHERN

PANHANDLE

ALEUTIANS

NORTH SLOPE

WEST COAST

warmest since

1925

CENTRAL

INTERIOR

warmest since 1925

NORTHEAST

INTERIOR

SOUTHEAST

INTERIOR

COOK

INLET

BRISTOL BAY

warmest since 

1925

WESTERN

GULF COAST

warmest since

1925

NORTHEAST

GULF COAST

NORTHERN 

PANHANDLE

CENTRAL

PANHANDLE

SOUTHERN

PANHANDLE

ALEUTIANS

warmest since 1925

NORTH SLOPE

WEST COAST

CENTRAL

INTERIOR

NORTHEAST

INTERIOR

SOUTHEAST

INTERIOR

COOK

INLET

BRISTOL BAY

warmest since

1925

WESTERN

GULF COAST

NORTHEAST

GULF COAST

NORTHERN 

PANHANDLE

CENTRAL

PANHANDLE

SOUTHERN

PANHANDLE

warmest since 1925

ALEUTIANS

warmest since 1925

TEMPERATURE RANKINGS, 

JANUARY–NOVEMBER 2015

Record Warmest

Much Above Average

REGIONAL OUTLOOKS: JANUARY–MARCH 2016

TEMPERATURE Increased chances for significantly 

warmer than normal temperatures across the 

state except for western Alaska Peninsula and 

Aleutians. Highest chances are from Kodiak Island, 

Anchorage and Fairbanks southeastward, where 

chances exceed 50%. Over northeast Gulf Coast and 

in Panhandle chances are over 60%. Remember, this 

outlook is for temperatures over the full 3 months, and it 

is entirely possible for there to be several weeks of colder 

than average weather even during a mild winter. Precipitation 

outlook is derived from outcomes observed in past El Niños.

PRECIPITATION Slightly increased chances of significantly 

higher than average total precipitation near Gulf of Alaska coast 

and central and northern Panhandle. Odds tilt toward significantly 

drier than average across Aleutians, most of western Alaska and 

central and western Interior. Temperature outlook is derived from a 

combination of recent moderate and strong El Niños and warmer 

than average sea surface temperatures.