It might be wet, but at least it’s warm.
According to the National Weather Service, Juneau set a new record-high temperature Wednesday as instruments at Juneau International Airport recorded a high of 53 degrees.
That temperature is one degree higher than the old record set on that date in 1997. Annette Island, near Ketchikan, also saw a record-warm day as temperatures reached 60 degrees.
On Tuesday, Juneau tied its record high of 49 degrees, set on that date in 2009.
Juneau is enjoying an exceptionally warm November; according to figures through Thursday morning, the capital city is averaging temperatures 7.5 degrees above normal this month. That follows October, which had Juneau’s first below-normal monthly average temperatures in a year.
The warm temperatures are courtesy of a cyclonic low-pressure system in the Gulf of Alaska. Its counter-clockwise rotation is pulling warm air from the central Pacific Ocean into Southeast Alaska. High-wind warnings have been issued in Ketchikan and far southern Southeast, and storm warnings line the outer coast.
October is normally Juneau’s wettest month of a year, but this year bucked that trend with only 2.59 inches of precipitation (rain and melted snow). That was an all-time record low.
Through Thursday morning, November precipitation is running well above normal. Almost three inches of rainfall has been recorded at the airport, well above the 1.86 inches that is normal for this point in the month.
The wet and warm conditions are expected to continue through the next week: According to the Weather Service, there is at least an 80 percent chance of rain every day through Monday.
