WEATHER

The greatest annual precipitation (snow and rain) in Alaska occurred at MacLeod Harbor on Montague Island in the Gulf of Alaska in 1976 where 332.29 inches were recorded,

The highest monthly precipitation in Alaska was also recorded at MacLeod Harbor in November 1976 where 70.99 inches fell.

The record maximum 24 hour precipitation in Alaska occurred on October 12, 1982, in Angoon with a measured amount of 15.2 inches.

Alaska snowfall records are all credited to a station at Thompson Pass (on the highway north of Valdez). The record measurements are: season (1952-53) 974.5 inches; month (February 1953) 298 inches; and 24 hour (December 1955) 62 inches.

The highest recorded temperature for Alaska is 100 degrees at Fort Yukon in June 1915. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) records through 1977 show that Alaska and Hawaii hold the record for the lowest high temperature marks in the U. S. Both have 100 degree highs. Every other state has a highest temperature of over 100. California has the highest recorded temperature at 134 degrees.

The coldest Alaska temperature ever recorded was minus 80 at Prospect Creek on January 23, 1971. NOAA records (through 1977) show that to be the lowest temperature recorded in any of the 50 states. The state with the next lowest recorded temperature was minus 70 in Montana. Not surprisingly, Hawaii has the highest recorded low temperature at plus 14. Every other state has a minus temperature as their recorded low.

Shemya, on the western end of the Aleutian Islands, has experienced winds of an estimated 139 mph.

Precipitation ranges have a great variance in Alaska. Annual precipitation in amounts up to 200 inches occur in the southeast panhandle, and up to 150 inches along the northern coast of the Gulf of Alaska. Amounts decrease to near 60 inches on the southern side of the Alaska Range, in the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands. Precipitation amounts decrease rapidly to the north, with an average of 12 inches in the continental zone and less than 6 inches in the arctic region.