Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog

Baked Alaska: 98° Reading Ties All-Time State Heat Record

Posted by: Dr. Jeff Masters, 5:21 PM GMT on June 19, 2013

+13

Alaska is a land of extremes, but the weather of the past month has been truly exceptional. An intense ridge of high pressure, part of an extreme jet stream pattern that has become "stuck" in place for many days, is creating the state's hottest heat wave in 44 years this week. Numerous cities in Alaska have recorded their all-time hottest temperatures on record, and according to wunderground's weather historian, Christopher C. Burt, the unofficial 98° measured at Bentalit Lodge on Monday, June 17, ties the record for the hottest reliably measured temperature in state history. The only other time Alaska has been this hot was on June 15, 1969, when the mercury hit 96° in Fairbanks, and a 98° reading was recorded in Richardson (near Fairbanks.) Mr. Burt writes: One thing that is so astonishing about the current heat wave in Alaska is how abnormally cold it was just a month ago. McGrath, which reached its all-time record high of 94° on Monday, recorded a 15° temperature on May 18th, the coldest temperature (by 4°) ever measured so late in the season there (McGrath went on to reach 86° on May 29th, its warmest May temperature on record!).

Figure 1. Another hot day in the Great Land: forecast highs for Wednesday, June 19, call for high temperatures in excess of 90° north of the Arctic Circle in Alaska.

Figure 2 . A rare cloud-free view of Alaska. This June 17, 2013 MODIS shot of Alaska, taken during the state's hottest heat wave in 44 years, is remarkably cloud-free-thanks to the intense ridge of high pressure over the state. The heat helped fuel several wildfires, marked with red squares. Image credit: NASA.

Links
Alaska Bakes with All-time Heat Records by wunderground's weather historian, Christopher C. Burt

All-Time Heat Records Broken in . . . Alaska?! by Andrew Freeman of climatecentral.org

Jeff Masters

85 degree heat

Categories:Heat

Updated: 5:24 PM GMT on June 19, 2013

Permalink | A A A

View Full Blog Entry — View Comments (49)

TD 2 Slowly Organizing, Headed Towards Veracruz, Mexico

Posted by: Dr. Jeff Masters, 1:50 PM GMT on June 19, 2013

+29

Tropical Depression Two is slowly spinning west-northwest across the extreme southern Gulf of Mexico--the Bay of Campeche--at 9 mph. The storm has a small area of heavy thunderstorms, as seen on Mexican radar and satellite loops. The thunderstorms are slowly showing more organization this morning, but the storm has little low-level spiral banding, poor upper-level outflow, and is fighting dry air on its west side. However, the Bay of Campeche is a region where the t...

Categories:Hurricane

Permalink | A A A

View Full Blog Entry — View Comments (256)

Tornado Hits Denver International Airport

Posted by: Dr. Jeff Masters, 12:35 AM GMT on June 19, 2013

+42

Tornadoes are difficult to observe, since they rarely move over instruments that can directly measure their winds. A rare exception occurred on Tuesday, when an EF-1 tornado obligingly ran directly over the weather station at Denver International Airport, which recorded a wind gust of 97 mph. Remarkably, the weather station was not destroyed, and continued to transmit data after the tornado had passed. There was no major damage reported at the airport.

Categories:Tornado

Updated: 12:36 AM GMT on June 19, 2013

Permalink | A A A

View Full Blog Entry — View Comments (616)

TD 2 Crossing the Yucatan, Bringing Heavy Rains

Posted by: Dr. Jeff Masters, 1:44 PM GMT on June 18, 2013

+52

Tropical Depression Two is slowly spinning west-northwest across Belize after making landfall late Monday afternoon in southern Belize. The storm is bringing heavy rain to Belize, Northern Guatemala, and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, as seen on Belize radar and satellite loops. The center of TD 2 will remain over land all day Tuesday, but TD 2's west-northwest track may be able to bring the storm over the Gulf of Mexico's southern Bay of Campeche on Wednesday--if the ...

Categories:Hurricane

Updated: 3:03 PM GMT on June 18, 2013

Permalink | A A A

View Full Blog Entry — View Comments (1043)

Tropical Depression Two Forms Near Belize

Posted by: Dr. Jeff Masters, 3:21 PM GMT on June 17, 2013

+46

Tropical Depression Two has formed in the extreme Southwest Caribbean, about 60 miles east of the coast of Belize. The storm is bringing heavy rain to Belize, as seen on Belize radar, and has produced up to 6 - 8" inches of rain over eastern Nicaragua and Honduras, according to satellite estimates. The center of circulation will be over water for about 4 - 6 hours today, before moving ashore over Belize. This may be enough time for the storm to become Tropical Stor...

Categories:Hurricane

Updated: 3:24 PM GMT on June 17, 2013

Permalink | A A A

View Full Blog Entry — View Comments (1113)

« View Older Entries

About JeffMasters