ALASKA and NORTHWESTERN CANADA 

Weather and Climate Highlights and Impacts, March - May 2017; Climate Outlook Jul. 2017 - Sept 2017

NORTH SLOPE: Utqiaġvik (Barrow) 

average March-May temp 7.9°F 

(-13.4°C), tied for 6th warmest on record

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ANCHORAGE: March 28-29. 

The Airport recorded 8.8" 

(22.4cm) of snow, closing 

schools on March 29

ANNETTE ISLAND – March 

had 30.2" (77cm) of snow., 

2

nd highest March snowfall 

on record, followed by the 

warmest April on record with 

avg. temp of 48.7°F (9.3°C)

KOTZEBUE: Average April 

temperature of 24.3F (-4.3°C), 

was the third warmest on record

FT. ST. JOHN: 

Wettest spring 

on record since 

records began 

in 1943 with 

181.6mm (7.15”) 

of precipitation

DAWSON CITY: 5th wettest spring on record since 

records started in 1902 with 92.9mm (3.66”) of 

precipitation compared to norm of 47.5mm (1.87”)

MCGRATH: No measurable 

precipitation in March, the 

driest in 30 years

FT. NELSON: 3rd warmest May 

on record with mean monthly 

temperature of 12.6°C 
Temperature & Precipitation, Mar. 2017 -May 2017

Source: NOAA and ECCC 2

Source: NOAA and ECCC 

Above

Despite near normal temperatures in Dawson, YK this winter, warm 

conditions in November reduced ice buildup preventing the unofficial ice 

road crossing the Yukon River from remaining open. Photo credit: CBC.

The first lightning fire of the year in the Yukon occurred on May 29, east of Watson Lake. It

quickly spread to 2700 hectares, but no infrastructure was lost. Following near normal

temperatures and precipitation this spring, the start of the wildfire season in the Yukon has been

the closest to normal as has been seen in many years. Photo: Yukon Wildland Fire Management

Branch.

The Yukon River break-up, always a source of intense betting in Dawson City, officially

occurred at 10:04am PDT on May 3rd, one week earlier than the 100-year average of May

11th. River ice break-up across Alaska was also uneventful this spring, thanks to a protracted

melt season without any extreme warmth. Photo credit: © Mammoth Mapping.

Temperatures in southern Alaska and southern Yukon Territory were below normal for the

March through May time period. The month of March was significantly colder than normal

across all of Alaska and portions of Canada. April and May were at, or slightly above,

normal for most of the region.

Spring is the driest portion of the year in Alaska and northwestern Canada. True to form,

precipitation was low in most of the region. The exceptions were along the North Slope of

Alaska and interior Yukon Territory

Wet

Wet

Wet

Dry

Dry

Dry

Below

Above Above

Above

Above
Useful Climate Websites

3

1. US Climate Prediction Center

Provides medium range forecasts from six to 14 days and monthly to seasonal forecasts up to

three months

2. Canadian Climate Normals

Offers access to the Canadian Climate Normals & Averages datasets

3. Canadian Climate Almanac & Extremes

Offers average and extreme temperature and precipitation values for a Canadian stations

over ttheir entire period of record

4. Canadian Historical Weather Data

Offers access to search and download past Canadian hourly, daily, and monthly weather data

5. NOAA Climate Data Online

Offers access to NCDC's archive of global historical weather and climate data

6. Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy

A group of in-house scientists and outside collaborators who assess the impacts of a changing

climate on the landscapes and people of the far north

7. US Applied Climate Information System

Offers a powerful tool for querying, aggregating, and analyzing daily climate data collected from

tens of thousands of stations across the U.S. and the world

8. US Western Region Climate Center

Offers a number of analytical tools for assessing drought, snow pack, near- and long-term trends,

and fire conditions

Arctic Sea Ice Volume

Most readers are familiar with the sea ice extent graphics produced by the National Snow and

Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and the Canadian Ice Service. Those maps show the spatial extent

and/or concentration of sea ice in the entire Arctic basin. Of equal importance is the volume of

ice present within the Basin. The Polar Science Center at the University of Washington

developed a program to model sea ice volume using sea ice extent and thickness data. Each

month they publish an estimated sea ice volume. The chart on the left depicts the monthly sea

ice volume since 1979. The two lowest volume years, 2012 and 2016, are shown in red and

yellow respectively. The 2017 year-to-date sea ice volume is shown as a cyan-coloured line. In

each month of 2017 so far, there was an established a new low sea ice volume record through

the month of May. For each month in the March through May time frame, both sea ice extent

and sea ice thickness established monthly records.

The thickness, and volume of ice are largely a function of the age of the ice. Ice more than

five- years old is frequently over two meters thick. New, first year ice is much thinner. Thinner

ice is more susceptible to melting compared to older multi-year ice because the exchange of

heat from the water to the atmosphere is more efficient. Warmer melt seasons gradually thin the

ice to the point that a single warm season can completely melt a section of ice. In addition,

thinner ice is more prone to mechanically breaking apart during storm events.

Sea ice volume is an important factor in deriving our seasonal forecasts. The reduction in sea ice

decreases the Arctic’s albedo while increasing the absorption of incoming shortwave

radiation. Ultimately, this leads to a warmer sea surface and seasonal outlook.

More information about the Pan-Arctic Ice Ocean Modeling and Assimilation System (PIOMAS ) 

project can be found here: http://psc.apl.uw.edu/research/projects/arctic-sea-ice-volume-anomaly/
Temperature Outlook: Jul-Sep 2017 Precipitation Outlook: Jul-Sep 2017

The graphics to the left show the most likely of the three possible

categories (significantly above normal, near normal and

significantly below normal) for the three months July through

September (2017) according to the North American Multi-Model

Ensemble (NMME) seasonal forecasts issued on June 7, 2017.

Most of Alaska and northwestern Canada are depicted in the 40%

to 50% likelihood for above normal temperatures. The northern

portion of the region is shown with a lower probability warm

signal.

The July through September time period is the wettest threemonth period of the year for much of the region. Most of the region

is depicted in white, which depicts areas where there is no

indication of any of the three categories, i.e. an equal chance. The

exception is for a slightly wetter season in the Canadian portions

of the region; however, the precipitation signal is not strong.

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 PARTNER: 

Environment and Climate Change Canada 

(ECCC). 

ERIK de GROOT erik.degroot@canada.ca

CINDY YU

cindy.yu@canada.ca

MATT MACDONALD 

matt.macdonald@canada.ca 

4

Sea Ice Conditions at the End of May 2017 in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas

Near Alaska, the sea ice in the Bering Sea early in the spring was

more extensive than the past few years, though it was much

below normal near Russia. Ice, however, deteriorated quickly

starting in early April. By the end of May the Bering Sea was

almost entirely clear of ice. In the Chukchi Sea, most unusually,

there was some open water near the Bering Strait by the end of

April. As can be seen on the map to the far left, during May large

areas of open water occur north of Point Hope, with open water as

far north as 72N by the end of May. This much open water so

early in the season so far north appears to be unprecedented in

modern times.

The map to the left shows that the clearing of the Beaufort Sea was

well underway by the end of May. Southeasterly winds pushed the ice

westward and loosened up ice to create open water conditions west of

Banks Island and southeastern Beaufort Sea as well as Amundsen

Gulf. These conditions developed sooner than normal. Also, the

distribution of old ice in the Beaufort sea did not recover during the

winter/early spring period. We should normally see up to 9 tenths of

old ice but are observing between a trace to 2 tenths of ice.