alaska weather & climate highlights DecemBer 2015–FeBrUarY 2016

iNteriOr

Parts of Interior and western Alaska had the driest winter 

of record. Lack of snow and gusty winds caused rare midwinter wildfire Feb 22 near Fort greely. 

sOUthceNtral & keNai PeNiNsUla

Strong chinook winds, in places gusting to near 100 mph, 

caused power outages across Southcentral Dec 29–30.

Freezing rain in Palmer and wasilla areas Feb 11 was 

substantial enough to cause poor driving conditions 

and close most Mat-Su schools.

anchorage received just 7.9" snow during mid-winter, 

with the ground bare or nearly so for part of the 

season, impacting local skiing. Alyeska Ski Resort 

reported >650" snow through end of Feb at 2700’.

Melting snow and rain flooded Anchor River north 

of homer Dec 30–31. Old Sterling Highway was 

impassable at Anchor River bridge. 

Snowstorm Feb 20-21 dropped 15–30" heavy 

wet snow in homer and the Caribou Hills. 

gUlF cOast & sOUtheast

kodiak had the 3rd wettest winter of record.

ketchikan: 5.96" rain Feb 25 was 2nd greatest daily rainfall 

for that month. Rain helped fill hydropower reservoirs.

sitka had its warmest winter of record.

A fast moving storm with low elevation wind gusts to 70 

mph downed power lines and trees in wrangell, Juneau,

and on Prince of wales island. Edna Bay Harbor on Price 

of Wales Island was damaged, canceling ferry service. High 

winds also canceled an Alaska Airlines flight to ketchikan.

This was the second warmest winter of 

record for Alaska as a whole. Only the 

winter of 2000–01 was warmer. 

NOrtherN

Barrow: Blizzard Feb 12–13 with 40–50 mph winds 

produced near-zero visibility and huge snow drifts. 

Schools closed on the 12th and there were no flights in or 

out on either day. Despite the blizzard, Barrow also 

had the warmest winter of record. 

Lowest temperature reported from any 

community in Alaska was -47°F at arctic 

Village Dec 24–25 — the 

highest statewide minimum 

temperature for any winter in 

the past century. 

BeriNg sea & aleUtiaNs

Sea ice coverage 

around Alaska at end of 

Feb was lowest since 2001. 

Bering Sea ice edge Feb 28 was 

not far south of st. matthew and 

Nunivak islands. Virtually no ice 

in Bristol Bay and Cook Inlet.

One of the strongest storms of record battered central 

Aleutians Dec 12–13, producing wind gusts >100 mph 

and damaging buildings and power lines in adak.

Homes in atka were also damaged.

JUNeaU

aNchOrage

FairBaNks 

BarrOw

Palmer

wasilla

hOmer

kODiak

Ft greeleY

arctic Village

NUNiVak i.

atka

st. matthew i.

PriNce OF ketchikaN

wales i.

sitka wraNgell

ALASKA REGION december–february 2016

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook NAT OI NAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRAT OI N

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Climate summary: Yukon and the Mackenzie 

Valley, Northwest territories, canada

Winter 2015–16 has been considerably warmer and drier than normal for many 

communities in the Yukon and Western NWT. Whitehorse had a mean temperature of 

-8.5°C , 4.9°C warmer than the normal mean. Dawson City recorded its warmest winter on 

record since 1900. Mean temperature during January and February 2016 was -15.7°C, 8°C 

above normal.

Precipitation at Whitehorse Airport totaled 71.7 mm compared to a normal of 45.9 mm. 

Yukon Government sources suggest that the percentage of normal precipitation for the 

months of January and February ranged from 6% of normal in Burwash to 98% of normal 

in Mayo. Dry anomalies have been observed over Western and Southwestern Yukon and 

portions of the Mackenzie Valley. 

Winter in the Mackenzie Valley, NWT has also been very warm, with highly variable 

precipitation from west to east. Communities in the delta and southwest have been very 

dry, while those in the east have been wetter. The warmth has led to fewer transportation 

closures along the Dempster Highway truck route into the Mackenzie valley, but this 

“benefit” has been offset by difficulties in building and using winter ice roads. 

The consequence of these warm and dry conditions is that our territorial partners are 

anticipating another very active forest fire season, especially in the southwest.
alaska temPeratUres, °F DecemBer 2015–FeBrUarY 2016

“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

10.2

-5.0

-7.3

8.8

15.9

19.0

30.8

30.1

35.7

33.2

26.1

6.6

1.3

3.1

13.3

3.8

5.3

-2.6

54.0

33.8 32.4

34.8

41.4

34.9

39.8

SIGNIFICANTLY 

ABOVE NORMAL 

STATEWIDE

Data aND aNalYses are PrelimiNarY aND sUBJect tO reVisiON.

NEAR NORMAL

NEAR NORMAL

NEAR NORMAL

23.8

-5.8

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

talkeetNa

alaska PreciPitatiON, iNches DecemBer 2015–FeBrUarY 2016

“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 WETTER 

THAN NORMAL

SIGNIFICANTLY WETTER 

THAN NORMAL

SIGNIFICANTLY DRIER 

THAN NORMAL

1.20

1.18

1.81

6.54

13.76

35.57

3.79

1.63

1.41

0.13

1.16

0.67 0.50

0.54

0.81

1.09

3.70 23.97

0.75

0.78

0.96

35.24

12.21

16.00

51.29

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 

Content and graphics prepared in partnership 

with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment 

and Policy and the NOAA National Weather 

Service Alaska Region. 

alaska region partners

Alaska Center for Climate Assessment & Policy, 

Alaska Climate Research Center, 

Alaska Climate Science Center, Cryosphere 

Today, NOAA / NWS Weather Forecast 

Offices (Fairbanks, Anchorage, Juneau), 

NOAA / NESDIS / NCEI, 

Scenarios Network for Alaska + Arctic Planning

For more information 

JAMES PARTAIN james.partain@noaa.gov

RICKTHOMAN richard.thoman@noaa.gov

ncdc.noaa.gov • #regionalclimateoutlooks 

Temperature & precipitation Anomalies outlooks: april–june 2016

climate divisions highlight

NOrtH slOPe

west cOast

ceNtral

iNteriOr

NOrtHeast

iNteriOr

sOUtHeast

iNteriOr

cOOk

iNlet

BristOl BaY

westerN

gUlF cOast

NOrtHeast

gUlF cOast

NOrtHerN 

PaNHaNDle

ceNtral

PaNHaNDle

sOUtHerN

PaNHaNDle

aleUtiaNs

temPeratUre raNkiNgs, Dec–Feb 2016

recOrD warmest

mUcH aBOVe aVerage

aBOVe aVerage

statewide, this was the second 

warmest winter after 2000–01.

Data aND aNalYsis are PrelimiNarY aND sUBJect tO reVisiON. sOUrce: NOaa NatiONal ceNters FOr eNVirONmeNtal iNFOrmatiON.

temPeratUre raNkiNgs DecemBer 2015–FeBrUarY 2016

Here we show how Alaska’s climate 

divisions rank in spring temperatures for 

2015–2016 since systematic recording of 

divisional data began in 1925. 

aBOUt alaska’s New climate DiVisiONs

Encompassing more than 660,000 square miles, with more than 6,600 miles of coastline and a wide 

range of topography, Alaska has many different climates. New divisional data will help scientists 

better understand the various climates in Alaska as well as how they are changing over time.

precipitation The same factors influence the 

precipitation outlook. With showers becoming the typical kind of 

precipitation over most of the state during May and June, there is 

much less confidence with precipitation outlooks. 

temperature The April–June outlook from the Climate 

Prediction Center shows dramatically increased chances for 

significantly above-normal temperatures over most of Alaska, 

as the lingering effect of El Niño, above-normal sea surface 

temperatures and unusually low sea ice conspire to boost the 

chances of warmer than normal temperatures.