Summer 2024 is behind us, and it certainly was a memorable one for Nome and the Bering Strait region.
Rainfall at Nome airport was 12.86 inches, more than twice normal. Only two summers, 1922 and 1954 had more rain.
Although it may feel like a long time ago, June though was actually warmer and much drier than normal. July plus August rainfall at the airport totaled over 12 and a half inches, and that is easily the highest back to back monthly rainfall in Nome's long climate history.
A dozen storms rolled across the northern and eastern Bering Sea during the mid and late summer. The most intense storm for the Nome area came on August 21 from the remains of ex-typhoon Ampil. It wasn't a big rain producer, but brought record high winds for the summer.
Overall, the summer average temperature of 49.3 degrees, about one degree below normal. Unusually for Nome, June was by a very slight margin the warmest month of the summer.
There were seven days in June and July when the temperature reached into the 70s, including the high for this summer of 77 on June 10. In contrast, the August high of 58 degrees is the third lowest August high temperature in Nome's climate history.
It was a different story in the Bering Strait and on St Lawrence Island, where this was the coolest summer since 2008.
