Summer’s especially soggy weather continued into fall, and rain may be the norm for the winter.
According to the National Weather Service, September and October brought 5 inches of rain more than normal, and above-average temperatures. Through press time Wednesday, there has been no measurable snowfall in the townsite, which typically sees at least a dusting by Halloween.
“It’s just been warmer than normal,” Tim Steffen, a Juneau-based meteorologist, said last week. “By now we’ve usually seen snow, but it’s a slow start.”
Scientists are studying sea surface anomalies in the equatorial Pacific for development of an El Niño weather pattern that brings warmer winter weather. “Most models suggest an El Niño developing in the next one to two months and lasting into spring,” Steffen said. “There’s no strong signal for (the amount of) precipitation (to expect).”
September’s 9.34 inches measured at the Haines airport weather station were more than three inches over the station’s historic average of 6.23 inches for the month. The month also was a bit warmer than usual, with an average temperature of 51.9 degrees F., compared to a historic average of 50.3 degrees F.
Ten inches of rain fell in October, compared to the normal 7.98 inches for the month. October’s rain was a bit steadier than September’s, as measurable rain fell on all but three days. October also was warmer than the historic average, with an average temperature of 42.9 degrees compared to 41.9 degrees.
Of the 19.34 inches of rain that fell during the two-month period, 14.76 inches – more than 75 percent of it – fell between Sept. 15 and Oct. 10. In October, only 2.34 inches fell after Oct. 10.
Those numbers were no surprise to Matt Boron, foreman for the Department of Transportation road crew in Haines. Rains kept crews clearing the landslide at 19 Mile Haines Highway, he said. “It was almost daily from August to the first part of October. We didn’t have any 20,000-yard events, but it was constantly active.”
Slides along Lutak Road also kept crews busy, and without large culverts added after a 2005 flood, sections of that road would have likely washed out, Boron said.
The rainfall didn’t set any monthly records. September’s record for total rainfall at the airport was 11.98 in 1981. October’s record came in 1980 when 20.37 inches fell.