Is summer on the way? Temperatures hit a new milestone after extended cold
Anchorage sees its warmest day in 216 days, with more sunshine and heat to come.
ANCHORAGE, AK (Alaska’s News Source) - Spring in Alaska can bring a wide variety of weather conditions, but this year has been one of the coldest Anchorage has ever experienced.
Since March 1st, there have only been eight days with high temperatures at or slightly above average. The rest of the days have not only been below normal, but many days have been 10 to 20 degrees below seasonal norms.
Despite being colder than normal, Anchorage has seen the temperatures warm more than 40 degrees since the beginning of the season, with high temperatures climbing from the lower teens to the mid-50s.
Anchorage hit a high temperature of 56° on Wednesday, making it the warmest day in 216 days, since October 8th.
People in Alaska’s largest city can normally expect the first 55° around the first of May, but this year it was almost two weeks later, the 6th latest on record and the latest since 1992.
This time of year, Southcentral Alaska sees the most dramatic warming as longer days set in. By the end of the month, normal high temperatures are in the low 60s.
The sunrise in Anchorage on May 13th was at 5:17 a.m., and it doesn’t set until 10:36 p.m. That is 17 hours and 19 minutes of daylight, which will grow to more than 19 hours over the next four weeks.
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This next week will bring more sunshine and mild temperatures to Anchorage, although still falling slightly below normal most days.
Looking further ahead to the summer season, the Climate Prediction Center is expecting above-normal temperatures statewide.
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