Climate Watch
From start to finish this was a very cold November across western Alaska.
At Nome, 29 of the 30 days were colder than normal. The only day that was warmer than normal was November 2, which also saw part of the only significant snowfall of the month. With a high temperature of 33°F, this was the only day to have a high temperature above freezing, while the last four days saw temperatures fall to -20°F or lower, including the monthly low of -25°F on Nov. 28 and 29.
Despite the persistent cold, there were no daily record lows set in November.
Overall, the average temperature of 4.3°F was 14 degrees below normal and cold enough to rank as the fourth coldest November in the 114 years of Nome weather history. The last time Nome had a colder November was in 1956.
Total precipitation during the month was only 0.43 inches, which is only one-third of normal. Nearly all of that fell as about six inches of snow on November 1 and 2.
Another notable aspect of the month was lack of sustained strong winds after Nov. 2. The average wind speed at the Nome Airport during the month of 5.9 mph is the lowest in any November since 2012 and winds were mostly very light during the coldest weather late in the month.
For autumn as a whole, the average temperature was 25.5°F, which is five degrees cooler than normal and the coolest since 2008. Like much of western Alaska, precipitation was unusually low. The total precipitation, rain plus melted snow, was 3.98 inches, which was only 75 percent of normal. Total snowfall was less than normal but thanks to the sustained cold weather of November the end of the month snow depth of six inches as reported in town is right about average.