Blasts of arctic air have dominated much of the central and eastern U.S. lately while Alaska has enjoyed above-average temperatures – so far above average that some towns are experiencing nighttime low temperatures warmer than long-established record highs.
Numerous record highs and warm lows have been set across the state, including widely scattered cities as Bethel, Bettles, Cold Bay, King Salmon and McGrath, to name a few.
On Saturday, Homer set an all-time high temperature for the month of February when it reached 53 degrees. Meanwhile, parts of Kentucky, where average highs are in the 50s for late February, were shivering with high temperatures in the 30s – which are the readings Homer should be seeing this time of year.
What has caused this pattern? Blame it on the jet stream.
The jet stream has been pushed northward over Alaska, allowing warmer temperatures to reach farther north than usual. Then the jet stream dives southward through central Canada and the eastern United States, which has dragged the colder air we expect to see over Alaska much further south into the U.S. mainland.
Boston has seen both record cold and record snow this year. This is the snowiest February on record and currently the second coldest February. Temperatures have only reached the freezing mark five times this February with the warmest temperature being 39 degrees and the coldest being minus 3 degrees.
So in every major category this month, Boston has been snowier and colder than Anchorage.
Meanwhile, Anchorage reached 32 degrees or higher 11 times this February. The warmest temperature recorded was 47 on Feb. 22 and the coldest Anchorage has been this February has been 0 on Feb. 5. Anchorage has seen only 20.3 inches of snow this season, which is 38 inches below average, and was at its second-lowest seasonal snowfall total through Feb. 9.
Fairbanks is also experiencing a noticeable shortage of snowfall as of Feb. 24 with only 30.8 inches of snow this season, 24.3 inches below average. High temperatures have been above average in Fairbanks since Feb. 16, when temperatures climbed to 37 degrees. This is warmer than the highest temperature recorded on any day this February in Minneapolis (36 degrees), Marquette (24 degrees) and Portland, Maine (35 degrees).
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image credit National Weather Service
