The April outlook from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center has been released, and it calls for increased chances for below normal temperatures for the month overall.
For April precipitation, neither above nor below normal totals are favored. Now remember, this doesn't mean that near normal is expected. Rather, in the expert's opinion, there isn't enough evidence to tilt the odds one way or another.
Over the past 119 years, April temperatures in Nome have ranged from 60 degrees - in the very mild April of 1940 - to a low of 30 below. That's happened three times, most recently in 2023.
April is about the driest month of the year across western Alaska. Most April precipitation falls as snow but occasionally there can be significant rain at low elevations, such as Nome saw in April 2019 and especially 2020.
Snowfall in Nome during April averages about seven inches, but has historically exceeded a foot about one year in 10 and the seasonal snowpack often reaches its highest levels during early to mid April.
