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| Information courtesy of the National Climate Data Center | ||||||||||||||||
| The station is located on the north shore of Barter Island. The island is roughly triangular shaped, and located just off the north shore of the Alaskan mainland. The northern side of the triangle runs in an almost true east-west direction. A small land area, Bernard Spit, located about one mile northeast of the station, and a small isthmus, Manning Point, extend northward from the mainland to the east of Barter Island. These, perhaps, affect the movement of floating ice and the distribution of drift ice in the area, particularly during the break-up period. For climatological purposes the station can be considered as located on a strip of land projected into the Beaufort Sea, the extended portion of the Arctic Ocean which touches the Alaska Coast east of Point Barrow. The climate is determined by the surrounding open Arctic water surface. The island terrain and the terrain of the mainland south of Barter Island is low, flat, and generally marshy tundra with numerous lakes, and with no elevations of consequence until the Brooks Range 65 miles to the south of the station. Consequently, there are no topographic features to affect temperatures and precipitation. During the long Arctic night, temperatures along this Arctic Coastal region do not drop to the extreme low readings reached in the Alaskan interior. The modifying effect of the surrounding ocean, although frozen during the winter months, is one of the factors preventing extremely low temperatures. During the warmest months of the summer the open water surface is still more effective in modifying the warming effects of a continuous period of possible sunshine, which continues almost from the middle of May to the end of July. High readings reaching 70 degrees or above have occurred on rare occasions. Freezing temperatures are reached, as a general rule, during all months of the year. Diurnal temperature ranges are confined within relatively narrow limits, reaching monthly maxima of around 17 degrees in April, and diminishing to their minima of slightly less than 8 degrees in June during the period of continuous daylight. Snow covers the ground about eight months of the year, and snow usually falls every month of the year. The relatively strong winds experienced from October through February make accurate measurement of snowfall and precipitation difficult because of drifting and blowing snow. The winds, combined with relatively high humidities, are the prime factors in producing uncomfortable weather conditions during the winter months. The sun remains below the horizon from late November until mid-January. Ice formation and movement are important factors in the Barter Island area. The dates of appearance of ice in the fall vary greatly from year to year, but the break-up dates in the late spring or early summer appear to be better confined. Ice on the Beaufort Sea and in the lagoon near the station has become safe for man as early as late September, but has remained unsafe as late as mid-November. The ice appears to remain safe for vehicles until the first of June and sometimes almost to the end of June. It has become unsafe for man in early June, but remained safe as late as mid-July. Tidal action often makes travel over ice or through the broken ice quite hazardous for considerable periods during the freeze-up in the early winter and particularly during the break-up of late spring or early summer. |
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