Information on Alaska Weather

All of Alaska gets snow during the winter.

Anyone planning a trip to Alaska will want to know something about the weather. The Last Frontier is best known for its snow, but the clothes you will need and the activities you will be able to enjoy during your trip depend on when and where you go. Snow parkas and bunny boots will be just as out of place in Anchorage in July as in San Francisco.

Latitude

Alaska's coastal cities are more temperate.

"North to Alaska" says it all. The state's 586,400 square miles are situated from 51 degrees to 71 degrees north. Alaska's high latitude means that it experiences more variability in sunlight as the seasons change. The famous midnight sun in July is balanced by long winter days when the sun does not rise north of the Arctic Circle.

Coastline

Interior Alaska is less humid but colder than the coast.

Alaska has as much coastline as the rest of the Unites States put together, including Hawaii. Those parts of the state that are near its 6,640 miles of coastline have a more stable climate with less drastic seasonal changes. Visitors to central and eastern Alaska--Fairbanks, for example--will find greater daily temperature changes than visitors to Juneau.

Elevation

Kenai is in south central Alaska.

Weather in an Alaska city is also affected by how high the city is above sea level. Lower areas, such as the Tanana Valley around Fairbanks, are extremely cold in the winter and very hot in the summer. Higher areas, such as southern coast near Kenai, are generally much cooler in the summer and rainy in the winter.

Temperatures

The mean temperatures in Alaska's biggest city, Anchorage, range from 14.8 degrees Fahrenheit in January to 58.6 degrees in July. Fairbanks, in the interior, has mean temperatures of minus-10 degrees in January to 61.5 in July. Juneau, Alaska's capital city, is on the southeast panhandle of the state. Mean temperatures are much milder, from 24.8 degrees in January to 56.2 in July.

Precipitation

The results of these factors can be counterintuitive. Juneau in the southeast gets more snow than Anchorage. Fairbanks is farther north but gets the least snow of the three. During December and January, Fairbanks averages 22.7 inches of snow, Anchorage 26 inches and Juneau 47 inches.

Weather

Spring comes to Mount McKinley.

As you prepare for your trip, check on current weather and the forecast for the areas you intend to visit. Interactive weather maps are provided by the Alaska Research Center. Click on the cities on the Alaska map you intend to visit, then compare the temperatures to where you live. You can also sign up for free, email updates of weather forecasts around the state.

References

• Alaska State Research Center: Information for Visitors
• Alaska State Research Center: Climatology
• Geophysical Institute: Alaska's Size in Perspective, by Carl Benson
• Alaska State Research Center: Alaska Visitors

Resources

• Alaska Travel