Summer 2006 - Hot & Dry

[Yukon]

It's likely to be another hot, dry summer in Alaska, according to University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist Glenn Juday. He said that low solar activity tends to correspond with hot, dry summers, while high solar activity parallels cool, wet summers, and we are in the low point of the sunspot cycle. The low is expected to continue for another two or three years.

 

While that sounds like generally good news for cruisers, the other side of that is forest fires, which in 2004 and 2005 reduced visibilty substantially in the Interior, and to a lesser degree on the coast. Here's a fire that stopped me for a few hours last summer - http://www.explorenorth.com/library/nature/boundary_creek_fire-1033.html

 

Murray

[nanashirl]

Was wondering what the temperature is like in early June in Alaska.

We are taking the Hubbard trip - Juneau, Sitka, Ketikan, Victoria.

Looking forward to seeing the beautiful area.

[Cabb]

Thanks for the heads up. We'll be going to Alaska in late May. It's been very hot and dry here in Nebraska, too, with more of the same forecast because of La Nina.

[Yukon]

For weather predictions of a specific week or day, you might want to check with a fortune teller, because the weather office has no idea even the day before. Even the historic averages seen in places such as http://www.wunderground.com/NORMS/DisplayNORMS.asp?AirportCode=PAJN&SafeCityName=Juneau&StateCode=AK&Units=none&IATA=JNU mean little anymore because of the hot-dry trend we've been experiencing for the past 7 or 8 years. So don't base anything on weather forecasts you see for the Alaska coast - hope for the best, prepare for anything.

 

Murray

[tnkrbell13]

Wow, that picture is amazing! I live in So California very near where we had some pretty devastating fires 2 years ago. I really hadn't heard about the fires in Alaska. It's amazing that we are in the same country but it seems like a world away.

Susan

[KFH]

We had a beautiful clear and sunny day last August but still couldn't see Mt. McKinley because of the smoke from fires north of the park.