Climate Watch

We often think of July as the warmest month of the year in western Alaska, and it turns out that is generally true, at least at Nome and most of the Seward Peninsula and eastern Norton Sound.

Over the past 114 years, July has been the warmest month of the year 62 percent of the time. However, in about a third of years, August is the mildest month. Because of the cooling influence of ocean water in June (and historically sea ice), June has only been the warmest month of the summer in a handful of years, most recently in 2003.

On St. Lawrence Island and the Bering Strait, where the ocean influence is stronger, August is typically the mildest month of the year.

The outlook for July 2020 from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center has been released, and it calls for, yes, you guessed it, enhanced chances for above normal temperatures for the month as a whole. While ocean temperatures are not nearly as warm as last summer, they are still warmer than the long term normal.

Above normal rainfall is also favored. Over the past 114 years, temperatures in Nome have ranged from 86°F in 1968 and 1977 to a low of 28°F in 1924 and 1934. The outlook for July rainfall also favors above average rainfall. Normal rainfall in Nome during July is just over two inches, which is more than twice the June average. The wettest July was in 1920, with 8.43 inches, while in 1964 there was only a quarter of an inch of rain. In July 1989, there was measurable rain (enough to wet the ground) on 24 days, and on 29 days that month the character of the day was rated as “cloudy.” July is the only month of the year that snow has not been observed in town.