Temperatures that plunged in mid-November made the month the eighth coldest on record in Haines, National Weather Service officials in Juneau said this week.
There are complete November weather records for only 34 years, however, officials said.
“Cold Yukon and Interior weather has been funneling down into Haines,” said meteorologist Richard Lam. Strong winds for the past week or more have made it feel colder still.
The monthly average temperature of 24.4 degrees F. in November was about five degrees colder than the average for the month in the past 10 years. A deviation of five degrees from the norm is significant, he said.
The average low temperature for November during the past decade is 24.7 degrees, Lam said. The average low temperature in November 2012 was 20.7 degrees.
The coldest November on record came in 2006 when the average monthly temperature was 15.4 degrees F. In November 2011, when more 11 feet of snow fell in town, the average temperature also was slightly colder than the past November, at 23.3 F.
No daily records for cold were set in November. Lam said colder and drier than normal weather was predicted for the winter.