Climate Watch

The first three weeks of June were the warmest on record for Nome, with an average temperature of 53.9°F, just edging out 2017. However, chilly and wet weather in the last week of the month kept June as a whole from setting any records.

The monthly average temperature of 51.5°F was still nearly four degrees above normal and made this the eighth mildest June in the past 114 years. Like much of the rest of the state, there was not any really extreme heat: The high of 74°F for June is very close to the typical June high temperature over the past 50 years. The low for the month at the Airport was 31°F on the 10th, the only day to be below freezing. Some inland areas also saw subfreezing temperatures on June 25 and 26.

The month was very dry to start, with not enough rain to completely wet the ground until the thunderstorm on June 19. The rainstorm at the end of the month would not have been particularly unusual in late July, but 1.04 inches of rain on the 27th and 28th was enough to tie for ninth highest two-day rainfall in June.

Almost two inches of rain were reported at Dexter and Banner Creek. The rain helped raise water levels in area rivers, and importantly for salmon, cooled off the water, too.

Ocean surface temperatures offshore of Nome started off the month in the lower 30s°F as the last of the Norton Sound ice melted. This was followed by a rapid warm-up, with ocean temperatures near to above normal the second half of June.

Overall, Nome temperatures for the three months —April through June —were warmer than normal three-quarters of the days, and ranked as the third warmest late spring on record, even warmer than last year. The only years warmer were 2016 and way back in 1941.