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HAPPY ST. Patrick’s DAY, Mild winter in Alaska!

Posted on by Slim

First off

HAPPY ST. Patrick’s DAY

 

Here in Grand Rapids the average H/L on March 17 is 45/27 the warmest St Patty’s day is 78 in 2012 the coldest maximum for the date is a cold +10° in 1941. Note The warmest it got for the whole month of March in 1941 was 52° so far the warmest Grand Rapids has gotten this year is just 46° Anyway getting back to March 17 the coldest low is a bone chilling -4° in 1949 the biggest snow storm in GR was 7.5″ in 1973 (I lived in Bay City than and there they received 21.5″ of snow that same day) the most snow on the ground in Grand Rapids was 15″ in 1904.

 

Utqiaġvik, Alaska (AKA Barrow) is the northernmost city in the United States and is one of the coldest locations in the world. In the winter time the sun sets on November 18th and does not rise again until January 21st in the summer it does not set from May 11th until August 1st This past late fall and winter many locations in Alaska seen a very mild (by their standards) winter. Here is some information on Utqiaġvik, Alaska (AKA Barrow) late fall and winter season. October was +6.8°, The warmest was +38° on the 1st and the coldest was -5° on the 25th there was 4.9” of snow fall (9.1” is average) November 2017 set a new record for the warmest at Utqiaġvik with a mean temperature of 17.2° (+17.2) the high for the month was 35° the coldest all month was -10° there was 8.8” of snow fall (5.7” is average) after a record setting November, December was also a record warmest for Utqiaġvik as well with a mean of 5.7° (+13.5°) While January’s mean of -4.3° was +9.1° that was not a new record only 0.4” of snow fell there in January. One fact that kind of surprises me is daily temperatures there with most days having larger temperature swings than we do here in west Michigan that is with total darkness all day long. Now for February the mean for February was -4.2° and while that was a departure of +18.2° that was not a record the warmest in February was 31 and the coldest was -35° there was 3.1” of snow fall for the month. So far March is running well above average with the first week averaging more than +30° above average more recently the temperature has been closer to +16 above average.
Several hundred miles south of Utqiaġvik is Fairbanks, Fairbanks is a much larger city then Utqiaġvik. The city has a population of just over 32500 and the metro area is just over 100,000 this is the 2nd largest metro area in Alaska. Fairbanks has a subarctic climate with long very cold winter and a short warm summer. While Fairbanks was warmer than average there temperatures departures were much less then Utqiaġvik, In much of Alaska I think it is fair to include November as a winter month. At Fairbanks November mean temperature was +4.8° that was a departure of +2.2 the highest for the month was just 33 and the coldest was -27 there was 24.6” of snow fall 13.2” is average. December’s mean average was warmer than November coming in at +9.0 that is 13.1 above average. The warmest in December was 41 and the coldest was -26 there was 7.0” of snow fall. January in Fairbanks was +.1.9 above average with the warmest for the month coming in at 33 and the coldest was -33 there was 14.1” of snow fall. February was 3.9 above average and there was 24.4” of snow (8.1” is average) with the cold the snow stays on the ground and the snow depth reached 32” by the 28th So far March is running around 4.5 above average and there is still 28” of snow on the ground.

Slim

Category: Slim

17 thoughts on “HAPPY ST. Patrick’s DAY, Mild winter in Alaska!”

  2. There is exactly a ZERO percent chance that GR will finish with below average seasonal snowfall this year! Mark it down and take to the bank!

  4. PHOTO
    03.17.1807:00 AM
    MEET STEVE, A NEW KIND OF AURORA BOREALIS
    SHARE
    THIS WEEK WE’RE staying close to home, because there’s a new visitor in town: Everyone, meet Steve. Steve is short for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement, and is a new kind of aurora on earth. You might know the aurora better as the northern lights, but you haven’t seen aurora borealis like this, not like Steve..

    Auroras are caused by highly energized particles called the solar wind. These particles are spit out from the Sun into space; when they arrive at Earth, though, they run into our very powerful magnetic field, which actually keeps us alive by deflecting solar radiation. As our magnetic field and the solar particles interact, they create a dazzling display of light. Depending on what color and patterns show up, it tells scientists a lot about the interactions taking place.

    A citizen scientist in Canada was observing the aurora borealis just for fun when he spotted a long sliver of purple with green stripes overhead. These were new features, and he nicknamed the phenomenon Steve. Atmospheric researchers are now encouraging citizen scientists who live in the northern part of the globe to keep a close watch out for Steve. NASA will use ground observations alongside satellite data to learn exactly what Steve’s up to and how it’s creating a new show of lights.

  6. At this time it is sunny and a cold 31° here at my house. I had a low of 19° this morning the official low was 22° at the airport. So far this month has a departure from average of -1.4° but the warmest it has gotten is only 46°. The seasons snow fall is at 71.7” with just under half of that falling in December. After a slight warm up this weekend it will turn cold once again but remain dry
    Slim

    1. Hey Slim, it’s going to come down to the wire to see if this is going to be the third winter in a row of below normal snowfall! Looking pretty dry in the extended forecast.

  7. My great grandfather immigrated from Ireland. My grandfather was the first of the family to be born in the US. He died on this day 36 years ago. I shall raise a glass today to you, grandpa.

    Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all.

    1. I come from a long line of Irish. I love St. Patrick’s Day too. HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY to you!!

  8. Beautiful day today. Looks like a fantastic weekend. HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!! 🙂

  9. Green Sprites! Happy St Patrick’s day Michaell UJ Andy Sherri slim Jim Jeff Sandi rocky bring on the 50’s yeaaa!! INDYDOG14!!

    3. HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY to you to Indy!! Like you said bring on the 50’s.

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