UQIAĠVIK: (Barrow) Average July 

temperature of 46.0°F (7.8°C), is 

the record highest for the month

ALASKA and NORTHWESTERN CANADA 

Weather and Climate Highlights and Impacts, June - August 2017; Climate Outlook Oct. 2017 - Dec 2017

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KETCHIKAN: 46.99” (1194mm) of 

rain, making this the wettest 

summer of record

BETTLES: Average July 

temperature 64.4°F (18.0°C), is the 

warmest for any month of record

FAIRBANKS: 13 days with thunder 

was more than twice normal 

SKAGWAY: 93°F (34°C) 

August 5th is the highest 

temperature of record

ANIAK: Very low water levels on 

Southwest Alaska rivers in June 

resulted in poor subsistence 

fishing and delayed barge traffic

NAHANNI BUTTE: Wildfires 

forced evacuations of some 

homes at end of 

Aug/beginning of Sept

HAINES JCTN: June 

17 snowstorm caused 

cancellation of Kluane

Chilkat bike relay

NORMAN WELLS : Set temperature 

records on July 7, Aug 10, and Aug 11. The 

Aug 10 record of 33.3°C(92°F) was 

3.3°C(6°F) higher than the previous record

CNTRL/SRN BC: BC recorded 

worst wildfire season with over 

1,200,000 hectares burned BERING SEA: Sea surface 

temperatures in the southern Bering 

Sea were above normal, but not to 

the extremes of 2016
Temperature & Precipitation, June 2017 – Aug. 2017

Source: NOAA and ECCC 2

Source: NOAA and ECCC 

Over a period of 30 hours on August 21-22 2017,Ketchikan, Alaska received more than 8

inches (203mm) of rain causing flooding in many areas and forcing the closure of the Signal

Creek Campground. Water was so deep that Salmon were seen swimming across the road.

Photo: U.S. Forest Service taken by Paul Robbins Jr.

On June 17, 2017the Kluane Chilkoot bicycle relay was cancelled due to an overnight

snowstorm at the starting point in Haines Junction, Yukon. A team of 4 Unicyclists had

already left earlier in the morning before the cancelation and were the only ones to ride to

the finish. Photo credit – Abbie Collins/KHNS radio

Summer 2017 was significantly warmer than normal over most of the region, though

Southeast Alaska and northern British Columbia were, overall, closer to normal.

Precipitation, as is often the case in summer, was quite variable. Southern and northern

coastal areas were wetter than average. Most inland areas and western Alaska had near

normal rainfall but with small dry pockets.

Above

Normal

Above

Normal

Near

Normal

Dry Dry

Wet Dry

Wet
Forest Fires over NWT El Niño forecast for winter 2017-2018

Date : August 12,2017 Source: NASA

It was an extraordinary fire season in Western Canada with the exception of Yukon (Alaska was relatively

quiet too). The satellite image above (courtesy of NASA) shows fires in Northwest Territories and central

British Columbia on August 12, 2017 . Thick smoke from the fires (indicated by hotspots in red) was being

pushed northward by the winds. It was a record breaking fire season for British Columbia (mostly the

southern and central sections) with over one half billion dollars spent on fire response and over 1.2 million

hectares (3.0 million acres) burned. That is about equivalent to a square of 110 km (70 miles) on each side. 

Many people in the West were impacted in some way. Some were forced to evacuate with some loss of

property and as this image shows, many areas, even those remote from the fires, were affected by the thick

smoke. Mid-September ENSO composite forecast Source: Climate Prediction Center

Comparing the graph above from June and the one below from September it is evident that the outlook for

the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has changed noticeably as central equatorial Pacific sea surface

temperatures have cooled significantly relative to normal. Additionally, the average temperature of the upper

300 meters of the ocean is also now below normal close to the equator in the central and eastern Pacific.

These developments have significantly increased the chances of La Niña this coming winter. During La Niña,

tropical thunderstorms tend to remain over the far western Pacific, which in turn tends to keep the jet stream

back toward to Asia. The impacts for northwest North America include an increased probability of colder than

normal temperatures, and in parts of the area less precipitation than normal. The most consistent impacts

tend to be during the second half of winter.

Mid-June ENSO composite forecast Source: Climate Prediction Center

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Temperature Outlook: Oct - Dec 2017 Precipitation Outlook: Oct - Dec 2017

The seasonal forecast from the North American Multi-Model

Ensemble (NMME) depicts the most likely of three possible

categories (significantly above normal, near normal, and

significantly below normal) for precipitation and temperature. The

map on the far left shows that for the October through December

2017 period, most of Alaska and northern Canada have a 40-60%

chance of above normal temperatures. There are two exceptions:

the extreme northern Alaska has a 70-80% chance of above

normal temperatures, while northern BC has a slight chance of

neutral conditions.

The precipitation outlook (map to left) for October through

December 2017 shows most of the region depicted in white,

meaning there is no indication of above, below, or neutral

conditions (i.e. an equal chance). The exception is for a 36-50%

likelihood of above normal precipitation across western Alaska,

and for a slight chance of below normal precipitation in the

northern Yukon.

Content and graphics prepared in partnership with the Western Region Climate Center, NOAA National Weather Service Alaska 

Region, and Environment and Climate Change Canada. 

ALASKA REGION PARTNERS: Western Region Climate Center, Alaska Climate Research Center, Alaska Climate Science Center, 

Cryosphere Today, NOAA / NWS Weather Forecast Offices, NOAA / NESDIS / NCEI, Scenarios Network for Alaska + Arctic Planning. 

NOAA ALASKA REGION CONTACTS: 

JAMES PARTAIN james.partain@noaa.gov

RICK THOMAN richard.thoman@noaa.gov

ncei.noaa.gov • #regionalclimateoutlooks

BRIAN BRETTSCHNEIDER: WRCC 

brbrettschneider@alaska.edu

WESTERN CANADA CONTACTS: 

Environment and Climate Change Canada 

(ECCC). 

ALYSSA CHARBONNEAU 

alyssa.charbonneau@canada.ca 

ERIK de GROOT erik.degroot@canada.ca

MATT MACDONALD 

matt.macdonald@canada.ca 

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Sea Ice Conditions at the end of August 2017 in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas

Sea ice cleared unusually early this summer in the Chukchi Sea,

with open waters in the Chukchi Sea to Point Barrow by mid-July.

By the end of the July the only ice that remained in Alaskan

navigational waters was scattered to broken first year ice offshore

of the Prudhoe Bay area, which melted out by mid-August.

Nearing the yearly minimum ice extent, a significant area of open

water was observed in most of the Beaufort Sea with many large open

areas that would normally have had ice (indicated in shades of red).

These ice conditions reflect the lack of old ice extent that has existed

since the spring. A more rapid melting of first-year ice occurred due to

the lack of old ice in the area. Though the summer 2017 was another

season of significant ice melt, this year will not establish a record

minimum.