Climate Watch

The mid-July outlook from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center for August does not favor above or below normal temperatures for most of western Alaska. The exception is for eastern and southern Norton Sound from Unalakleet southward, where the outlook very slightly favors above normal temperatures. Neither above or below normal rainfall is favored anywhere in western Alaska. Temperatures typically only slowly fall in August. The shorter days and less heating from the sun are partly counterbalanced by the warmer ocean compared to early in the summer, and at Nome August has been the warmest month of the year about one in three years over the past century.

In Nome, August temperatures since 1907 have ranged from a high of 83°F in 1966 to a low of 23°F in 1913. August is the wettest of the year, on average, across the region.

At Nome, the average rainfall in August is 3.22 inches, and has varied from just 0.40 inches in 1971 to 8.58 inches in 1998, which is the highest precipitation total for any month in Nome’s climate history. Only two years ago, Nome was drenched with 2.47 inches on the first days of August, which is the highest 24-hour rainfall on record for the Gold Rush City. While the main threat for coastal flooding at Nome comes in the autumn, there have been a few instances of significant storms in August, most notably in 1928 when winds gusting to 60 mph produced considerable damage in town.

August on rare occasions brought snow flurries to Nome but accumulating snow has not been measured.

PS: Nome’s looking at a possible record wet week [as of press time on Monday]. Several plots forecast more than two inches of rain in the next week. The average plot forecasts over four inches of rain and the wettest plot forecasts well over six inches.

Looking at record rainfalls, the rainiest 7-day record was set with 5.25 inches between October 27 November 2, 1935 (all rain, no snow).

In second place came a seven-day period between July 24-30, 2012 with accumulative rainfall of 4.73 inches.

Five-day records were set on Oct. 29 – Nov. 2, 1935 with 4.45 inches of rain and 4.04 inches fell between July 30-August 3, 2019.