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Does anyone know what the climate is like on the eastern coast of Baranof Island (the one that Sitka is on) for instance in warm spring Bay, those mountains seem pretty tall, and are also the tallest of all the mountains in the Alexander Archipelago. Interestingly there are no communities on that side of the Island?
Alaska is infamous for it's unforgiving winters, and because of it, it's population has remained relatively low, so which place in all of Alaska has the best climate? And which has the warmest? If a thread on this has already been made then I'm sorry, and can you give me the link. Also as a side note, which do you think is the worst climate? And which has the coldest?
out of all these I think Hyder might have the best overall temps but its precipitation is really horrible. Are there any places in southeast Alaska that have a microclimate that is dry, or are the mountains not large enough to form rain shadows?
Well, not in Alaska, but Trondheim's climate (81-2010) is very similar to Hyder/Stewart (55 N) wrt temperatures (May-June slighly warmer in Hyder, Dec-Jan slightly warmer in Trondheim), but Trondheim only has ca 40% of the precipitation. Trondheim also has nearly 40 % more sunshine than Hyder.
Also, Kenai (60 N) in South-central Alaska has a climate almost identical to that of Alta (70 N) in northernmost Norway.
I wonder if anyone "here/responding" has ever been to any of these places? Barrow is dark all winter, wind blows to -80% at times. No trees, just flat and then the polar bears show up from time to time. People leave their cars running all day while at work (in winter). In spring when the snow melts you have to use a small boat to get around, all houses are on stilts because of spring flooding. The cost of food is the highest in the state.
Skagway is between two mountains and always windy. Natives are unfriendly to anyone who thinks they want to stay for winter...
Unalaska, high winds bring changing weather every 15 minutes, always be ready for rain or snow as the case may be. Dirt roads make it hell when it hasn't rained in 3 days. Most of the things I've seen there you wouldn't believe anyway, lets just say it's not the end of the world, but you can see it from there.
Fairbanks is perfect in the summer. If you don't like cold, cold, cold go south for winter.
Barrow isn't dark in March and that's still a very cold month and technically winter.
I've lived in Anchorage and visited Fairbanks, King Salmon, Moose Pass, Cordova, Naknek, Haines, Tok, Whittier, Deadhorse, Coldfoot, Delta Junction, Chenega, Glenallen, Gakona, Denali, Talkeetna, Healy, North Pole, Salcha, etc.
I never made it to Valdez or Nome or Barrow unfortunately but maybe next time.
One of my favorite spots is Atigun Pass on the way to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay.
If we consider maximum cooling degree days (CDD) with a very Alaska 45F as threshold, with highest relative normal solar irradiance (if you average the normal vectors of sun rays), the area around Dillingham is ideal. This is, of course, averaging across the entire year, as if we just consider summer the area just west of Fairbanks around Ruby is optimal, however significantly cloudier (and very very cold) in the winter.
However, that region is cursed with the extremely wet Aleutian low, and is a bit cooler than parts southeast. After some sleuthing, King Salmon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_S...hy_and_climate
benefits from a significant rain shadow, putting its annual rainfall totals (calculated by the NOAA from 1981-2010, same as for Anchorage) just barely above Anchorage. Summer highs and lows are a few deg F below anchorage, as are winter highs and lows. However, not very much wind, *most consistently* sunny, and near the excellent Katmai National Park.
Now admittedly, Skagway and Haines at similar latitudes (58 v ~59N) are much milder in winter temps, but also significantly cloudier, the classic cool North Pacific upwelling that generates the marine layer all the way from northern Baja to the Kenai Peninsula. They're also still much wetter than King Salmon. Southeast Alaska will have SOME other nanoclimates, but they will be extremely locally confined. There was recently a listing for a piece of remote luxury real estate halfway between Sitka and Juneau that allegedly benefits from a local microclimate, but to map those out in detail would be a leviathan task involving surveying and satellite imagery.
Others have mentioned Wasilla is a bit cooler than cloudy Anchorage in the winter and warmer in the summer, and with Anchorage's lukewarm summers, that seems like a good thing. However, remember that the Anchorage bowl protects it from the windstorms that rage down the Mat-Su valley. Although neighboring Palmer is most affected by these (and also has the warmest summer temps in the Mat-Su borough, making it an excellent place for agriculture), Wasilla is not far behind. With windchill, winters might get quite nippy. The area around Butte just southeast of Palmer is significantly calmer, but as one with a basic understanding of wind patterns might expect, much colder as well.
For the warmest summers and the most moderate winters (read - January average lows below -10F and extreme winter temps regularly below -30F) in the Alaskan Interior, look to the suburbs of Two Rivers and Pleasant Valley northeast of Fairbanks. The south-facing slopes of these regions get abundant sunshine and escape the frigid temperature inversions that Fairbanks proper is famous for. And of course, the Alaskan interior is relatively calm as well. But both Wasilla and Two Rivers are suburban, however. If you're interested in an Alaska bush experience with relatively temperate weather, south of the zone of discontinuous permafrost in SW Alaska, you can't go wrong with the northwestern tip of the Alaska Peninsula near Katmai National Park.
I personally have a special place in my heart for the Kachemak Bay region, right around Kachemak/Fox River/Fritz Creek, as they're near the beautiful seaside town of Homer and yet still much less cloudy. However, in terms of summer temps and warmth they are still only comparable with King Salmon, and a bit wetter and much cloudier in the winter. If you need convincing of how much winter sunshine makes a difference, try visiting the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Last edited by aliencatbot; 03-16-2016 at 12:27 PM..
Does anyone know what the climate is like on the eastern coast of Baranof Island (the one that Sitka is on) for instance in warm spring Bay, those mountains seem pretty tall, and are also the tallest of all the mountains in the Alexander Archipelago. Interestingly there are no communities on that side of the Island?
Very wet. Port Alexander, at 168 inches/year, and Little Port Walter, at 226 inches/year, are two of the wettest places in North America.
Little Port Walter is now just a research station, but there is a small fishing village in the vicinity. Can't remember the name of it, but someone who has spent time fishing out of there told me that locals believe it's even wetter than Walter.
For coldest winter time temps, it would probably be Arctic Village, near Fort Yukon.
Last edited by Arktikos; 03-16-2016 at 04:02 PM..
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King Salmon is an Alaskan Paradise
