Well, it was scorching by Southeast standards.
April 2016 was the warmest ever recorded in Juneau and Sitka, according to measurements taken by the National Weather Service.
The month’s average temperature was 44.9 degrees in Juneau, breaking by half a degree the record set in 1993. In Sitka, the record of 46.9 degrees was nine-tenths of a degree higher than the mark set in 1993.
The record-warm April follows a record-warm March, the second-warmest February on record and the eighth-warmest January in the capital city. It also follows a record-warm 2015 in the capital city.
Eight days saw record-high temperatures for the date, and the warm weather coincided with an abnormally rainy month.
In April, 5.16 inches of rain were recorded at Juneau International Airport, making the month the fifth-wettest April on record. The record was set in 1999, when 7.48 inches of rain was recorded at the airport.
The one-month forecast from the National Climate Prediction Center indicates greater than a 50 percent chance that temperatures in May will be above normal. The three-month forecast indicates a 63 percent chance that temperatures will remain above normal through July, and a 23 percent chance that temperatures will be near normal. There is only a nine percent chance that temperatures will be below normal during that period.
It’s also likely to be wetter than normal in May — or at least wetter than it was in May 2015. In that month, a record-dry one for Juneau, only 0.52 inches of rain was recorded at the airport.
Juneau saw more than that this year on May 1 alone.
