According to the National Weather Service a high of 77 degrees fahrenheit was documented at the Nome Airport. The sizzling temperature was a new all time record for June 10, previously held by 1928 when it reached 74 degrees. It was also the highest temperature in Nome since August 4, 2021.
According to Rick Thoman, Climate Specialist with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy, warm air mass from the interior combined with low pressure in the western interior and high pressure over Chukotka led to the conditions for yesterday’s record heat.
Temperatures in the 70s were observed throughout the southern Seward Peninsula. To the northwest of Nome, residents in Wales experienced a high of 34 degrees, much less than Nome’s high of 77. Thoman explained the stark difference in temperatures in the Seward Peninsula.
“North wind at Wales and St Lawrence Island is off the cold water and remaining sea ice. A few thousand feet above the ground at Wales it was something like 25F warmer than on the ground. In contrast, a north wind at Nome is off the land,” Thoman shared via email.
In Thoman’s May 30 issue of the Climate Highlight for Western Alaska he noted that NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center calls for slightly increased chances for below normal temperatures for the month as a whole. While Monday’s unusually high temperature may have residents of the southern Seward Peninsula wondering if a warmer summer is ahead, Thoman believes only time will tell.
“No change to summer outlook at this point, a couple of days is only two percent of the full June-August period,” Thoman said.
High temperatures are expected to dip below 50 this week before rising back up to the upper 50s for the weekend. As residents and visitors look forward to the Midnight Sun and Berry Festival on June 20, the weather seems to be hitting a sweet spot for the upcoming city-wide events.
