McGrath Alaska Community Message Board: ANOTHER WILD OCTOBER FOR 2009

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ANOTHER WILD OCTOBER FOR 2009

Posted by NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE on 11/7/2009, 6:07 am
209.112.195.19

THE FIRST HALF OF OCTOBER 2009 WAS KNOWN FOR ITS WELL ABOVE AVERAGE
TEMPERATURES. A TOTAL OF 7 DAILY TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE SET OR
TIED FROM THE 7TH THROUGH 12TH. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT OF THESE WAS
THE 67 DEGREE HIGH ON THE 10TH...WHICH SMASHED THE PREVIOUS RECORD
FOR THAT DATE BY 12 DEGREES. THIS ALSO SET A NEW ALL-TIME OCTOBER
HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORD...WHICH PREVIOUSLY STOOD AT 66 DEGREES FROM
OCTOBER 9 2006. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH IN THE END
WAS 34 DEGREES...ONE DEGREE SHY OF THE WARMEST OCTOBER ON RECORD
FROM 2006. THE AVERAGE HIGH AND LOW TEMPERATURES EACH STAND IN THE
TOP 3 WARMEST ON RECORD. DAYS WITH HIGH AND LOW TEMPERATURES BELOW
FREEZING...AND LOW TEMPERATURES BELOW ZERO ALL STOOD IN THE TOP 5
LOWEST TOTALS ON RECORD. THIS IS ESPECIALLY INTERESTING AS OCTOBER
2009 WAS THE POLAR OPPOSITE OF LAST OCTOBER IN MANY WAYS. OCTOBER
2008 WAS ONE OF THE COLDEST EVER...WHERE OVERNIGHT LOWS FELL BELOW
ZERO ON A RECORD 15 NIGHTS IN THE MONTH...AND ABOVE NORMAL SNOWFALL
WAS RECEIVED.

PRECIPITATION LAST MONTH WAS NO LESS SIGNIFICANT THAN THE WARM
TEMPERATURES. 1.93" OF THE 1.95" (98.9 PERCENT) OF THE PRECIPITATION
FOR THE MONTH WAS RECEIVED THROUGH THE WETTING RAINS FROM THE
3RD THROUGH THE 9TH OF THE MONTH. FROM THAT POINT FORWARD...
PRECIPITATION OF ALL KINDS SUDDENLY BECAME SCARCE. FROM OCTOBER
10-31...MCGRATH WAS ONLY ABLE TO RECEIVE 0.02" OF LIQUID
PRECIPITATION...WHICH IS SECOND ONLY TO OCTOBER 10-31 1960 FOR THE
DRIEST LAST 22 DAYS OF OCTOBER ON RECORD. A MEASLY 0.8" WAS
SNOW WAS RECEIVED IN OCTOBER...6.9 PERCENT OF THE 11.5" NORMALLY
RECEIVED IN OCTOBER...AND GIVES OCTOBER 2009 THE 2ND LOWEST SNOWFALL
TOTAL ON RECORD. SNOW WAS REPORTED ON ONLY 6 DAYS OF THE
MONTH...THE LOWEST TOTAL ON RECORD

SO FAR THIS WINTER...MCGRATH HAS ONLY SEEN 5.3" OF SNOWFALL...MORE
THAN 7" BELOW NORMAL. MOST OF THIS SNOW FELL IN LATE
SEPTEMBER...AND QUICKLY MELTED WITH THE RECORD HEAT IN EARLY
OCTOBER. THIS LEAVES MCGRATH WITH THE RELATIVELY RARE SIGHT OF
ONLY SPOTTY SNOW COVERAGE ON THE GROUND IN EARLY NOVEMBER.

DAILY RECORDS SET OR TIED IN OCTOBER 2009...

DAY: NEW RECORD (OLD RECORD(YEAR))
OCT 3: 0.47" PRECIP (0.35"(1988))
OCT 7: 39F LOW TEMP (39F(1985))
OCT 10: 67F HIGH TEMP (55F(1979)) (NEW OCT HIGH TEMP RECORD)
OCT 10: 49F LOW TEMP (37F(1979))
OCT 11: 58F HIGH TEMP (54F(1969))
OCT 11: 43F LOW TEMP (39F(1969))
OCT 12: 38F LOW TEMP (36F(1969))

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD IS FROM 1971-2000
THE MCGRATH CLIMATE RECORD BEGAN IN 1940

THIS CLIMATE SUMMARY IS PRELIMINARY AND UNOFFICIAL

DAVE KOCHEVAR
NWS MCGRATH