Juneau’s warm trend continued into the second month of the year as the capital city recorded its second-warmest February since accurate recordkeeping began.
According to measurements taken by the National Weather Service at Juneau International Airport, February 2016 averaged 37.6 degrees. Since 1936, only February 1977 was warmer at the airport, the city’s official measuring point.
In downtown Juneau, where incomplete records go back to 1890, temperatures averaged 39.4 degrees. That figure was the second-warmest as well, behind only 1977.
January, according to the Weather Service, was the ninth-warmest on record in Juneau. Last year, 2015, was the warmest ever recorded in the capital city.
The warm weather has dried up Juneau’s snowfall as well. Only 2 inches was recorded at the airport; that figure was 14.8 inches below normal.
Through March 1, Juneau has seen 34.9 inches of snowfall this winter, the third-lowest figure at the airport since 1936.
Rainfall was the dominant form of precipitation at the airport, but even though 22 of February’s 29 days recorded at least a trace of precipitation, the total was almost nine-tenths of an inch below normal.
The Weather Service recorded 3.26 inches of precipitation at the airport, below the normal figure of 4.13 inches.
Warm conditions are expected to continue through at least May, according to the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center. The center is predicting a 63 percent chance that temperatures will be above normal through the next 90 days.
Juneau’s top 11 low-snow winters
24.4” winter of 1987-1988
30.2” in 2000-2001
34.9” in 2015-2016 (through March 1)
35.5” in 1986-1987
35.6” in 1997-1998
41.3” in 1969-1970
42.6” in 1952-1953
43.2” in 1999-2000
46.3” in 1976-1977
48.6” in 2014-2015
52.4” in 1977-1978
