Local climates

By Rick Thoman
Alaska Climate Specialist
Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Preparedness
International Arctic Research Center/University of Alaska Fairbanks

The configuration of the continents, mountains and oceans all interact to produce many distinct local climates on Seward Peninsula and Bering Strait region.
In the early summer, this regularly shows up in dramatic temperatures between the immediate coast and inland areas. This can be especially dramatic in the Nome area because of the proximity of the mountains to the coast. In the most dramatic cases, sea fog can enshroud Nome to the bases of Anvil Mountain and Newton Peak, while to the north sunny skies prevail, so a drive from downtown Nome to Banner Creek may see the temperatures go from the 40s in the fog to the 60s or even 70s beyond the hills.
The transition is often abrupt, with most of the temperature change occurring in a mile or less. Occasionally, the boundary between the cooler marine air and the warmer inland air is right in town. For example, for a while on Sunday afternoon, June 14, temperatures were in the lowers 70s in Icy View but still in the lower 50s on Front Street.
With modern technology, in the Nome area we can see these kinds of temperature differences as they happen, thanks to several Nomeites who have installed personal weather stations that send the observations to the web.This frequent coast-to-inland temperature difference is likely reflected in the Nome climate record.
This week's graphics shows the number of days in late May and June when the high temperature was 60ºF each year since 1907. There is a significant difference in the typical number of such mild days between 1907 and 1966, when climate observations where made downtown, at Fort Davis or on the south side of the main east-to-west runway (near Seppala Drive) and since 1966, when temperature observations have been made from a couple different locations north of main runway. Of course, other changes happened during this time, including less early summer sea ice, so there are additional factors driving the more frequent warm days that we experience nowadays in early summer.