Fairbanks January Summary

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
835 AM AKST FRI FEB 1 2013

...JANUARY MONTHLY WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FAIRBANKS ALASKA...

JANUARY 2013 WAS A ROLLER COASTER OF INTERESTING WEATHER.

THE MONTH OF JANUARY BEGAN UNSEASONABLY WARM...OVER 30 DEGREES
ABOVE NORMAL ON THE 1ST OF THE MONTH. TEMPERATURES FELL BACK TO
NEAR NORMAL GRADUALLY THROUGH THE 10TH OF THE MONTH...UNTIL
UNSEASONABLY WARM SOUTHERLY FLOW PUSHED BACK INTO THE INTERIOR BY
THE 12TH. THE WARM AIR PLATEAUED ON JANUARY 14TH WHEN THE
FAIRBANKS AIRPORT REACHED 37 DEGREES. THE WARM AIR WAS ACCOMPANIED BY A
SWATH OF RAIN AND SNOW WHICH CAUSED WIDESPREAD TRAVEL HEADACHES
THROUGHOUT THE FAIRBANKS AREA. AT THE AIRPORT...0.15 INCHES OF
RAIN FELL...THE GREATEST JANUARY RAINFALL SINCE 1963. IN THE NORTH
POLE AREA...SOME PLACES RECEIVED OVER ONE THIRD OF AN INCH OF
RAIN...AND THROUGHOUT THE AREA MANY ROADS REMAINED ICE COVERED AT
MONTHS END. FOLLOWING THE RAIN...TEMPERATURES COOLED BUT REMAINED
ABOVE NORMAL MOST DAYS UNTIL STAGNANT ARCTIC AIR MOVED IN ON THE
25TH. THE THERMOMETER PLUMMETED TO THE 40S BELOW FOR THE FIRST
TIME OF 2013 ON JANUARY 25TH. THE COLD SPELL OF LATE JANUARY DID
NOT LAST LONG BUT THERE WERE SEVERAL DAYS WHERE AIR QUALITY
EXCEEDED THE EPA HEALTH LIMITS FOR FINE PARTICULATE
POLLUTION...AIDED BY THE USUAL STEEP TEMPERATURE INVERSIONS IN THE
FAIRBANKS BOWL.

OVERALL...THE AVERAGE JANUARY TEMPERATURE WAS 2.7 BELOW. THIS IS
5.2 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND MADE THIS THE MILDEST JANUARY IN
FAIRBANKS SINCE 2002. THE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH
OCCURRED ON THE 14TH WHEN THE FAIRBANKS AIRPORT REACHED 37
DEGREES. THE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 48 BELOW WAS REACHED ON
JANUARY 27TH...WHICH TIES THE 48 BELOW REACHED ON DECEMBER 17TH
FOR THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE OF THE WINTER SO FAR.

JANUARY ENDS WITH A TOTAL OF 14 DAYS WITH TEMPERATURES OF 40
BELOW OR LOWER AT THE FAIRBANKS AIRPORT. FAIRBANKS HAS NOT REACHED
50 BELOW THIS YEAR...THOUGH SOME TYPICALLY COLDER PLACES
HAVE...INCLUDING LOWS OF 54 BELOW IN TWO RIVERS...52 BELOW AT
NORTH POLE AND 50 BELOW AT GOLDSTREAM CREEK.

PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH OF 0.79 INCHES WAS 0.21 INCHES ABOVE
NORMAL FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY. DESPITE THE ABOVE NORMAL
PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS...SNOWFALL FOR JANUARY OF 9.9 INCHES WAS
ALMOST EXACTLY NORMAL. SNOW DEPTH INCREASED TO 19 INCHES BY THE END
OF JANUARY.

WITH THE CLIMATOLOGICALLY COLDEST PART OF WINTER BEHIND...FEBRUARY
PROMISES TO DELIVER MORE NOTICEABLE DIURNAL TEMPERATURE RANGES AS
THE MONTH PROGRESSES AND THE REGION GAINS OVER 3 HOURS OF POSSIBLE SUNSHINE
BETWEEN THE 1ST TO THE 28TH. AVERAGE TEMPERATURES INCREASE FROM 6
BELOW TO 4 ABOVE BY THE END OF THE MONTH. THOUGH ONLY A 10 DEGREE
AVERAGE INCREASE...THE NORMAL HIGH TEMPERATURES BY THE END OF THE
MONTH IS 17 ABOVE. NORMAL SNOWFALL IN FEBRUARY IS 8.1 INCHES...THOUGH
HISTORICALLY FAIRBANKS HAS OCCASIONALLY RECEIVED DAILY SNOWFALLS
IN EXCESS OF TEN INCHES...MOST RECENTLY IN FEBRUARY 1996 AND
2011.

THE FORECAST FOR FEBRUARY FOR FAIRBANKS FROM THE CLIMATE
PREDICTION CENTER CALLS FOR INCREASED CHANCES OF SIGNIFICANTLY
ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES. 

$$

JM/RT