The sunshine that Southeast Alaskans felt yesterday will go down in history. Multiple towns in the region reached record high temperatures.
The highest record breaking temperatures were in Yakutat and Juneau, which both reached 81 degrees. That broke Yakutat’s 1996 daily record by nearly 10 degrees and tied Juneau’s 1982 record.
Temperatures also broke or matched records in Haines, Gustavus and Klawock.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Grant Smith said it’s important to track record-breaking days.
“So when we see these extremes, yes, it’s impressive,” he said. “If we see more of them in a short amount of time, then yeah, it could mean something.”
Over decades, he says, that data can help tell the story of how the local climate is changing. But just a single day of record heat can’t alone tell that story.
This year, Alaska updated its heat advisory levels to match how temperatures feel in northern latitudes.
In Southeast, a forecast of 80 degrees now triggers a heat advisory. Juneau just had its first one.
The new advisories reflect that hot weather often feels hotter here.
“The sun angle is so much higher, so all that light energy is much more direct on us, on the concrete, on our skin,” Smith said.
Smith describes it as a flashlight shining down on a table. When it’s shining directly down, the light is concentrated in a small circle, so it’s more intense — that’s what Alaska is like in the summer. When the flashlight is angled, it shines as a large cone at a much lower intensity — that’s what we experience in the winter.
Monday’s heat gave way to clouds and rain across much of Southeast on Tuesday. Aside from a few days of warmth here and there, cool weather has dominated this summer so far.
Correction: This article has been updated to specify that Yakutat and Juneau saw the highest record breaking temperatures in the region, but not the highest temperatures overall.
