October 2012 Weather Summary

Date: November 28, 2012
Contact: Deborah Kurtz, [phone]

Dry and clear conditions prevailed most of October with a total of 22 days with no measurable precipitation at the Seward airport. Based on the 30 year normal, October is typically the third wettest month of the year after September and December. Currently, October 2012 istied with April for the third driest month of the year (after June and March).

As recorded at the Seward airport, total precipitation for the month was 2.84 inches (30% of normal), 6.51 inches below the 30-year average (1981-2010) for the month. The monthly average temperature was 38.1 degrees F; 1.5 degrees F below the 30-year average. October 9^th was the windiest day of the month at the Seward airport with an average daily wind speed of 18.9 mph. The first snow flurries of the season were observed in town on October 16^th but only amounted to a trace of precipitation for the day.

Also of note:

• The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center'sthree month weather outlook (November-December-January) favors below normal temperatures and below normal precipitation for the Kenai Fjords area, indicating a cool and dry start to the 2012-13 winter.
• To see how Kenai Fjords' October weather conditions compare to other locations in Alaska, check out the Alaska Climate Research Center's October summary, here.
• New research published in Geophysical Research Letters reveals an 18% drop in June snow cover per decade in the Northern Hemisphere for the past 30 years. Click here to read more.
• The journal Nature Geoscience published new research that indicates that disturbance from the current mountain pine beetle infestation in British Columbia's forests could lead to a local 1 °C increase in surface temperature with secondary implications for climate. Read more…
• NOAA climate services portal serves as a single point-of-entry for NOAA's extensive climate information, data, products, services, and the climate science magazine ClimateWatch.

Read more to find out about the local climate for October 2012