Last month Kodiak Island experienced its coolest May since 2012 and didn’t see a day with temperatures above 60 degrees the entire month. The warmest day in Kodiak so far this season was at the end of April, when it reached 61 degrees on April 28.
Climatologist Rick Thoman, who’s with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said this cooler weather wasn’t limited to just Kodiak.
“Quite a chilly May all across Kodiak and indeed Southwest Alaska. Many places from the Pribilofs through the Yukon-Delta, and to Kodiak, had their coolest May in more than a decade," Thoman explained.
What was more unique to Kodiak though was the amount of rain the island experienced recently.
The season of spring for meteorological purposes, includes the months of March, April, and May, while the summer solstice, which is the longest day of the year and marks the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, doesn't happen until June 20, 2024.
According to Thoman, Kodiak Island saw its wettest spring since 2008, with over 20 inches of rain falling during this year's three-month period. That included four days of heavy precipitation just over the last week, at the end of May into June.
“The end of meteorological spring and going right into the first days of June, Kodiak had almost five inches between May 30 and June 2. That is not a record but again it is the highest rainfall in the May – June time frame, again, since 2008," Thoman reiterated.
Kodiak caught a break from the rain at the beginning of this week, and warmer weather is likely to show up sooner rather than later.
But for now, Thoman says an enhanced storm track in the Gulf of Alaska with cooler ocean air and below normal sea surface temperatures in the Bering Sea, will continue hitting the east side of Kodiak Island. That means temperatures may not reach 60 degrees for the foreseeable future.
