Alaska Survives Warmest Month Ever

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Federal weather experts say Alaska just went through its warmest month ever. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says Alaska’s average temperature in July was 58.1 degrees (14.5 Celsius). That’s 5.4 degrees (3 Celsius) above average and 0.8 degrees (0.4 Celsius) higher than the previous warmest month of July 2004. Climate experts say such unusual weather events likely will become more commonplace as climate warming continues. Brian Brettschneider of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ International Arctic Research Center says Alaska has seen “multiple decades-long increases” in temperature. He says it becomes easier to have unusual weather conditions on top of the setting of a warming climate. Effects of the warm month were seen throughout the state, with sea ice disappearing north of Alaska and drought conditions on the southeast Panhandle.