October 2014 Weather Summary

Date: November 17, 2014
Contact: Deb Kurtz, 907-422-0544

October was unusually dry with slightly above normal temperatures in the Kenai Fjords area. There was no measurable precipitation at the Seward airport for two-thirds of the month (20 days) leaving the total monthly precipitation far below normal. Combined with the below-normal precipitation that characterized most of the spring and summer, Seward was at a cumulative 13.2 inch deficit for annual precipitation by the end of the month. Daily high temperatures ranged from 35 to 56 degrees F. On October 13^th, a high of 54 degrees F tied the daily record high for the date set in 1969. Nighttime lows varied from 24 to 42 degrees F. October 1^st marked the first frost of the season as recorded at the Seward airport.

As recorded at the Seward airport, the monthly average temperature for October was 40.3 degrees F; 0.7 degrees F above the 30-year normal. The total precipitation was 2.9 inches (31% of normal), 6.45 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 (November-December-January) favors above-normal temperatures and above-normal precipitation for the Kenai Fjords area.
• The EPA has released the third edition of a Climate Change Indicators Report, highlighting observed long-term trends related to the causes and effects of climate change and the significance and consequences of these trends.
• A new Australian study published in Nature Climate Change reveals that marine species may not be able to adapt fast enough to increased CO₂levels in the ocean.
• NOAA reports that 2014 had the sixth smallest Arctic sea ice extent on record (beginning in 1979).
• Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks find that loss of Arctic sea ice has resulted in a 7 degree C increase in temperature in Barrow, Alaska in the last 34 years.
• Scientific American reports that in 2015-16 the U.S. will lead the international Arctic Council’s effort to come up with a plan to deal with changes in the Arctic.
• For the first time in history, a cargo ship without an ice cutter escort sailed through the Northwest Passage (from north-eastern Canada to Alaska) in September 2014.
• The online journal Nature reports that mysterious holes that appeared in Siberia in summer 2014 formed from the build-up and release of methane gas from thawing permafrost.
• 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 2014 (PDF)