Juneau’s thermometer reached a new high point for the year on Tuesday as the National Weather Service station at Juneau International Airport topped 80 degrees.
By 4 p.m., the temperature was 81.
On average, Juneau sees only two days of 80 degrees or warmer at the airport, the city’s official measuring point. Last year had only one, on Aug. 5.
Tuesday’s mark was the highest temperature thus far this year but is below the all-time high for June 19. That mark, 85 degrees, was set in 2004. That year had the most 80-degree days in capital city history, with 12.
The airport measurement is only the third time this year that the thermometer has topped 70 degrees. In an average year, Juneau sees 19 days with temperatures at or above that mark.
Monday’s high temperature was 74 degrees at the airport, and that may have been the coolest spot in the city. At Lena Point, the thermometer hit 75; in West Juneau and North Douglas, it was 77. In Lemon Creek, temperatures reached 78.
Temperatures elsewhere in Southeast were comparable, but Prince of Wales and Annette Island temperatures were the highest, registering above 80 on Monday.
The warm weather hanging over the capital city comes as a ridge of high pressure air dominates the weather over Southeast Alaska, according to the Weather Service.
That ridge will begin to break down Thursday night and Friday as a series of rain showers enters the region. The rain is expected to pass by Saturday, leaving cooler conditions behind, but forecasts indicate a low-pressure weather system will arrive in northern Southeast by Sunday, bringing greater chances of rain.
Longer-term forecasts bring better news, with the ridge expected to rebuild as the low-pressure weather system moves eastward into Canada.
• Contact reporter James Brooks at jbrooks@juneauempire.com or 523-2258.
This chart created by the xmACIS2 climate database operated by NOAA’s regional climate centers shows the number of 70-degree days in Juneau. The horizontal black line shows a 50-year rolling average. (Screenshot)
Wayside Dock and Douglas Island are seen in a panoramic image taken from the Juneau Empire on Channel Drive on Monday, June 18, 2018. (James Brooks | Juneau Empire)
