Climate Watch
April was unusually mild across all of western Alaska. In fact, relative to normal, the mildest region in the state was the Seward Peninsula. The high of 53°F on April 30 was the sixth highest daily high temperature for April. The higher ones were in April 1940, an extremely mild month across most of Alaska.
At Nome, the average temperature in April was 27.8°F. That’s more than five degrees above normal and mild enough to rank as the eighth warmest April in the past 116 years. Aprils in recent years —2014, 2016 and 2017 —were all milder than this year.
The warmth was persistent: Every day after April 8 was warmer than normal. During the month temperatures ranged from a daily record of 53°F on the 30 to -13°F on April 7. There was one notable cold weather highlight: A brief but sharp push of cold air kept the temperature below 0°F all day on April 7. While not a record, this was the latest date in the spring with a high temperature below 0°F since April 9, 1985.
Total precipitation (rain plus melted snow) at Nome in April of 0.65 inches was close to normal, thanks to the wet snow that fell on the April 8 and 9.
Winds were slightly stronger than average, with gusts of 30 mph or higher on five days.
Looking ahead to May, temperatures continue to increase, though not as dramatically as in April. However, with increasing sunshine and the loss of snow cover, overnight temperatures increase quite a bit. While subzero temperatures have occurred the first week of May in Nome, by late in month record lows are near 20°F above.
While not quite as dry as March and April, May is still very much part of the dry season in western Alaska. In Nome, accumulating snow is unusual after the second week of May but it sometimes happens late in the month, too. With this spring’s snowpack generally thinner than normal, and in some low elevations already mostly melted, snowmelt flooding is unlikely.
The May outlook from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center slightly favors above normal temperatures overall, while neither above or below normal total precipitation is favored. Of course, with most of the sea ice already gone from Norton Sound, ocean temperatures are very likely to run warmer than normal in May and beyond.