| October 2009 - |
Higher than normal temperatures affected most of Alaska this month. Nome recorded the 3rd warmest October ever, while Barrow recorded the 4th warmest. Barrow had the highest temperature deviation this month with 9.3°F above normal, followed by King Salmon (5.7°F), Fairbanks (5.6°F), Big Delta (5.2°F), Anchorage (4.4°F), Nome (1.8°F) and Juneau (0.6°F) and Ketchikan measured an anomalous 1.3°F below normal for October.
Rainfall across much of the northern West Coast and western Arctic Coast, Interior and Southeast region was below normal this month, while the Gulf of Alaska, the southern portion of the West Coast, and the eastern Arctic Coast reported above normal precipitation.
Snowfall in Fairbanks was the lightest since 1969, just 5.3”. In Nome, a rare thunderstorm, and the first ever observed in October, struck on the evening of the 10th, bringing increased rainfall, higher temperatures and lightning to the darkened skies. The storm contributed to the higher than normal temperatures along the coastal regions of Alaska.
West of Barrow, Arctic sea surface temperatures were 2°F to 5°F above. Waters around Nunivak Island were 2°F to 4°F warmer than normal, and in the western Gulf of Alaska, the temperatures were 1° to 3°F warmer than normal.
Interior river ice ranged from 2” to 10” thick, and lake ice ranged from 4” to 8” thick. Sea ice along the Arctic coast was near normal east of Barrow. From Barrow to Mackenzie Bay is ice covered, the Chukchi Sea pack ice was less than normal most of the month, and the southern edge of the ice has reached Point Hope. Kotzebue sound finally froze over by the 31st of October.
There was a small eruption on the 2nd from Mt. Cleveland, and three earthquakes, from 5.3 to 6.3, registered in the eastern Aleutians on the 12th, 13th and 14th.
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