Not many people would consider highs in the upper 50s and 60s in August a heat wave, unless you live in Barrow, Alaska.
Temperatures in Barrow typically only climb to 44 degrees this time of year, but have been soaring well above that mark much of this week.
Highs in the 60s graced the city Monday and Tuesday with Monday's high falling one degree short of tying the day's record of 66 degrees from 1991. Highs in the middle to upper 50s then followed for Wednesday and Thursday.
Overnight hours each of these days were also extremely mild, failing to drop out of the upper 40s. Thursday was the third consecutive day that Barrow registered a record warm low temperature.
At 8 a.m. EDT Saturday, the temperature in Barrow (54 degrees) was milder than in Minneapolis (51 degrees).
Seasonably cooler weather will return early next week.
Residents of Barrow should not get their hopes up of spending the next couple of mild days soaking up bright sunshine along the shores of the Arctic Ocean.
Winds with a persistent southerly component are responsible for Barrow's warm stretch of weather. Such winds prevent any cooling effect from the Arctic.
The opposite occurred last Friday when northwesterly winds ushered in chilly air and held temperatures in Barrow to the freezing mark.
Last Friday's high of 32 degrees was actually the third coldest high temperature recorded on that day (record keeping in Barrow began in 1915) and the lowest daytime high for Barrow since May 28.
Warmth is forecast to build over much of the eastern half of the nation by July, with Alaska of all places helping out.
The storms could affect cities from St. Louis to Evansville, Ind., Louisville, Ky., Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio to Huntington, W.Va.
Join us on Thursday for AccuWeather LIVE, we will discuss the debate of climate change and hurricane frequency and the top five things you need to know about summer weather.
A slow-moving tropical depression will continue to bring torrential rainfall and the risk of flooding to parts of southeastern Mexico, Belize and Guatemala into midweek.
Some of the warmest weather of the year will continue across Alaska over the next few days, challenging more records.
The threat of flash flooding will focus along part of the Atlantic Seaboard Tuesday evening.
| Extreme | Location | |
|---|---|---|
| High | N/A | |
| Low | N/A | |
| Precip | N/A |
New England (1875)
Severe coastal storm (a possible hurricane)
from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia. Eastport, MA
reported 57 mph winds.
Wellesly Hills, MA (1998)
2.35" of rain in 35 minutes.
Mayo, Yukon Territory (1950)
95 degrees -- hottest ever in province.
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