Alaska's Record Warmth Captured In Colorful NASA Photo

Sean Breslin
Published: May 27,2015




 

You'd expect the South to sweat through mid-May, but one area of the United States was, surprisingly, even further above average.
Alaska set numerous record high temperatures in the past couple of weeks, even in towns north of the Arctic Circle. In extreme northern Alaska, temperatures soared as high as 47 degrees in Barrow, which is unseasonably warm for this time of year.
(MORE: Barrow's Sun Won't Set Until Early August)
That might not be the kind of stifling heat the Lower 48 will have in July, but it's shocking warmth for a normally-frigid area. To show how odd this warmth was, NASA took surface temperature data from May 17-24 using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite. In the image at the top of this page, above-average temperatures are shown in red, while the pattern change was evident in the West, where temperatures dropped below average.

(NASA Photo)

According to Weather Underground's Bob Henson, the 47-degree high on May 21 was Barrow's warmest temperature on record so early in the calendar year. The previous earliest date the temperature reached 47 degrees in Barrow was May 23, 1996.
Henson adds that the average date this first occurs is June 17. Despite 24 hours of sunlight, the average high this time of year in Barrow is still stuck in the upper 20s.
Barrow wasn't alone setting records. The heat, as usual, has been most pronounced in Alaska's eastern interior. Fairbanks soared to 86 degrees on May, breaking the old daily record by 6 degrees.
The tiny village of Eagle, located near the border with Canada's Yukon Territory, has seen temperatures soar as high as 91 degrees. For nine consecutive days, Eagle's high temperature topped 80 degrees.
(FORECAST: Barrow | Fairbanks | Juneau | Anchorage)
Anchorage also chalked up its record warmest April and has all but clinched its least snowy season on record. Only 25.1 inches of snow fell in the city, beating its prior least snowy season – 30.4 inches – set in 1957-58.
While not setting daily records, Alaska's capital of Juneau has also soared into the low 70s eight of the past ten days through Friday, a good 15 degrees warmer than average.
For the sake of comparison, here's how the rest of the world looked while Alaska (and western Canada) baked:

(NASA Photo)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Did This Happen? 

Interestingly, Alaska's recent warmth can be traced to a pair of earlier super typhoons.
"A series of two western Pacific super typhoons -- Noul and Dolphin -- have done a number on the (jet stream) pattern across the north Pacific following their extratropical transition," says Dr. Michael Ventrice, Operational Scientist at The Weather Channel Professional Division.
Ventrice says the ex-typhoons created "high-latitude wave breaking," creating a pronounced northward diversion of the jet stream over the eastern two-thirds of Alaska and northwest Canada.
This warm spell does have its drawbacks. Fire danger has been high and snowmelt led to flooding in other areas of the state, like the oil-rich North Slope, which was cut off by floodwaters.
So far, the heat hasn't had much of a negative impact on drought conditions for Alaska. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, none of the state is currently in any level of drought, but nearly one-fourth of the state is abnormally dry – the level just below drought status.
MORE: Alaska's Glaciers In Retreat