The August outlook from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center is online, and for all parts of our region, temperatures for the month are favored to be near normal, while above normal rainfall is favored over eastern and southern Norton Sound. Now remember, these outlooks are for the month as a whole, and not the day to day weather.
For reference, the average high temperature in August at Nome is 56 degrees, the average low of 44. O ver the past 118 years, temperatures in August have ranged from as high as 83 in 1966 to as low as 23 in 1913. Northern Bering Sea ocean temperatures often reach their annual peak in August, and that plays a role in this being the wettest month of the year.
At Nome, the month averages over three inches of rain, and totals in excess of five inches have occurred about once a decade.
Of course, one of the most obvious environmental changes in August is the rapidly shortening days. At Nome, possible sunshine decreases by more than three hours, and full darkness returns to the early morning sky later in the month.
