June 2014 Weather Summary

Date: July 11, 2014
Contact: Deb Kurtz, [phone]

The Kenai Fjords area saw a return to more normal temperatures in June, but the dry conditions that characterized the spring continued throughout the month. June was the fifth consecutive month of below average precipitation as recorded at the Seward airport. By June 30^th, there was a deficit of 10.8 inches of precipitation (62.5% of normal) for the first half of 2014. The lack of precipitation was hard to miss during the pollen season. Without rain to wash the pollen to the ground these lime green particles were observed in giant smoke-like plumes drifting from the forested slopes of Kenai Fjords and provided a chartreuse coating on everything from vehicles to vegetation to the glacier-fed waters of the fjords.  The dry conditions were paired with typical daytime temperatures, mostly in the 50s and 60s, with a maximum temperature of 76 degrees F recorded on June 28^th.

As recorded at the Seward airport,the monthly average temperature for June was 51.9 degrees F; 0.3 degrees below the 30-year normal. Thetotal precipitation was 0.74 inches (31% of normal), 1.68 inches below the 30-year normal (1981-2010) for the month.

Also of note:                                                                                        

• The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center's three month weather outlook (July-August-September) favors above-normal temperatures and normal precipitation for the Kenai Fjords area.
• New research published in the journal Nature reveals that storm waves, originating up to thousands of miles away, play a bigger role than previously thought in the role of polar sea ice breakup and melt.
• Climate.gov is hosting a blog about the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). About once a week, climate scientists share information on the current El Niño Watch and offer perspectives and research results on the progression of El Niño and related topics.
• Nature Climate Changepublished new research indicating that, in response to warmer temperatures, eastern forests are absorbing more carbon dioxide than they are releasing, partly as a result of earlier green-up.
• The National Climate Assessmentdescribes how two particular climate-driven phenomena, declining sea ice and thawing permafrost, contribute to the accelerated pace of coastal erosion in Alaska.
• 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 June 2014 (PDF)