CXAK57 PAJK 031020 CLMASI NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK 147 AM AKDT WED APR 03 2024 ................................... ...THE SITKA CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH 2024... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1944 TO 2024 WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR'S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE NORMAL .............................................................. TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 62 03/18/2019 LOW 4 03/05/1951 03/04/1951 HIGHEST 56 03/19 52 4 LOWEST 15 03/03 22 -7 AVG. MAXIMUM 45.5 42.5 3.0 AVG. MINIMUM 34.6 32.5 2.1 MEAN 40.0 37.5 2.5 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 DAYS MAX <= 32 3 1.2 1.8 DAYS MIN <= 32 5 14.4 -9.4 DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 13.37 1955 MINIMUM 0.87 1974 TOTALS 5.54 5.60 -0.06 DAILY AVG. 0.18 0.18 -0.00 DAYS >= .01 16 18.4 -2.4 DAYS >= .10 13 12.6 0.4 DAYS >= .50 3 3.6 -0.6 DAYS >= 1.00 1 1.0 0.0 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 1.08 03/08 TO 03/09 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 767 852 -85 SINCE 7/1 4764 5566 -802 COOLING TOTAL 0 0 0 SINCE 1/1 0 0 0 FREEZE DATES EARLIEST 10/08 LATEST 03/14 .............................................................. WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 8.0 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 36/150 DATE 03/08 36/170 03/13 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 55/150 DATE 03/13 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 0 MIXED PRECIP 0 HEAVY RAIN 0 RAIN 9 LIGHT RAIN 17 FREEZING RAIN 0 LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 0 HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 4 LIGHT SNOW 8 SLEET 2 FOG 19 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 0 HAZE 12 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. $$ ...A MAINLY BENIGN MARCH WAS EXPERIENCED ACROSS SOUTHEAST ALASKA... Daily average temperatures were a bit above normal and total precipitation values were a bit below normal as a whole for the region for March. This is primarily due to most of the frontal systems approaching the Panhandle from a south or southwesterly direction, which brought primarily southerly warm air advection to the area out ahead of those. Also, high temperatures skyrocketed on several days during March between weather systems during prolonged periods of widespread mostly sunny to sunny skies over the area. Many of the aforementioned frontal systems were also relatively quick-moving, which means they did not dump massive amounts of liquid equivalent precipitation over the region. The only exception is Yakutat, which experienced 1.21 inches above normal liquid equivalent precipitation mainly due to a long deep swath of atmospheric moisture aimed at the northeastern Gulf Coast region from a frontal system approaching from the southwest around the middle of the month. Significant snow storms were also not experienced during the month for the 4 climate sites. Juneau Airport's average temperature was 2.1 degrees above normal and their liquid equivalent precipitation was 0.59 inches below normal for March. For Yakutat, their average temperature was 3.1 degrees above normal and their liquid equivalent precipitation was 1.21 inches above normal for the month. For Sitka, their average temperature was 2.5 degrees above normal and their liquid equivalent precipitation was just 0.06 inches below normal for March. For Ketchikan, their average temperature was 1 degree above normal and their liquid equivalent precipitation was 2.64 inches below normal for the month. As for records tied or broken during the month, On March 5th, Ketchikan Airport set a record low temperature of 8 degrees, which broke their previous record of 9 degrees, which was set way back in 1951. On March 14th, Ketchikan Airport set record liquid equivalent precipitation with 1.95 inches, which broke their old record of 1.77 inches, which was set in 2017. On that same day, Juneau Airport reported a record high temperature of 48, which broke their previous record of 47, which was set back in 1998. On March 15th, Yakutat reported 2.65 inches of liquid equivalent precipitation, which tied their old record, which was set way back in 1947. On the 16th, Ketchikan Airport broke their old high temperature record of 55 with 56 degrees, which was set back in 1966. On the 23rd, Juneau Airport broke their high temperature record of 51 with 52 degrees, which was set in 2019. Chambers $$