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Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Fairbanks AK
335 PM AKST Thu Mar 2 2017
...MONTHLY WEATHER SUMMARY FOR FAIRBANKS FOR FEBRUARY ALASKA...
February 2017 was warm and and very snowy with 23.3 inches of snow
falling at the Fairbanks airport. The 23.3 inches of snow that
fell was 15.2 inches above the normal snowfall of 8.1 inches and
ranked as the 6th snowiest February of 106 years of record. Season
to date snowfall now totals 78.4 inches as of the 1st of March and
is 22.1 inches above the normal season to date snowfall of 56.3
inches. Only 9 other winter seasons have had more snow through the
end of February. Snow depth at the Fairbanks airport peaked at 34
inches on the 26th before settling to 32 inches. This is the
greatest snow depth at Fairbanks since April of 1993. A series of
storms pounded the Fairbanks area during the last week of the
month with 19.2 inches of snowfall. The snow melted down to 1.24
inches of precipitation which ranked as the 7th wettest of 106
years of record.
The average maximum temperature was 11.0 degrees which was 1.0
degree above the normal maximum temperature of 10.0 degrees and
ranked as the 54 coldest of 109 years of record. The average
minimum temperature was 9.6 below which was 3.1 degrees above the
normal minimum temperature of 12.7 degrees below and ranked as the
44th warmest of 110 years of record. The Average temperature was
0.7 degrees which was 2.0 degrees above the normal average
temperature of 1.3 degrees below and ranked as the 50th warmest of
109 years of record. The warmest temperature during the month of
February was 35 degrees above on the 14th and the lowest
temperature was 41 below which occurred on the 12th. The season
total days that have reached 40 below or colder now stands at 4.
The normal total of days that reach 40 below or colder in a cold
season is 11 to 12 days.
Looking forward to March the temperature climbs sharply as the
sun angle and length of day increases. The average daily maximum
temperature increases from 18 degrees above on the 1st to 34
degrees on the 31st. Thea average daily minimum temperature
increases from 9 below on the 1st to 8 above on the 31st. The
normal range from the daily low temperature to the daily high
temperature is around 30 degrees. Over the past 109 years the
temperatures have ranged from 56 above in 1994 to 56 below in
1911. March is on average the driest month in Fairbanks. Normal
precipitation is 0.25 inches while normal snowfall is 4.9 inches.
In some years the now pack begins to melt by late march especially
in urban areas.
Possible sunshine increases by nearly 7 minutes per day during
March increasing from 10 hours and 11 minutes on the 1st to 13
hours and 33 minutes on the 31st.
The forecast for March from the Climate Prediction Center
indicates significantly below normal temperatures are likely
with equal chances for below normal, near normal or above normal
precipitation.
Observed last month...02/2017
OBSERVED RANK
Avg max temp (F) 11.0 54th coldest of 109 years
Avg min temp (F) -9.6 44th warmest of 110 years
Avg temp (F) 0.7 50th warmest of 109 years
Total precip (in) 1.24 7th wettest of 106 years
Total snow (in) 23.3 6th snowiest of 106 years
$$
CCC
