Chris Dolce
America's northernmost town, Utqiagvik, Alaska, shattered an all-time record high temperature for December on Monday, adding yet another monthly heat record to the recent history of this Arctic Ocean town.
Formerly known as Barrow, Utqiagvik's high soared to 40 degrees Monday morning, smashing the town's previous December record of 34 degrees set on Dec. 9, 1932. Monday's high was 37 degrees above Utqiagvik's average high for early December.
Even more impressive is that it was the warmest the town has been on any day between Oct. 30 and April 22 in records dating to 1920, according to Rick Thoman, a climate specialist with ACCAP at the University of Alaska - Fairbanks.
Utqiagvik is no stranger to setting all-time monthly high temperature records in recent years.
Since 2015, it's set new record warm benchmarks in five separate months: January, May, June, October and now December.
Monday's extreme high temperature is not the only all-time record set this month in Utqiagvik.
On Friday, it had its warmest low temperature on record for December when it dipped to only 28 degrees. That might seem cold, but not when compared to its average low which is a frigid minus 8 this time of year.
Low Arctic Sea Ice Partly To Blame
Northern Alaska isn't the only part of the Arctic that's recently been warmer than average.
“The entire Arctic is hot except for small portions of the central and eastern Canadian Arctic and a very small portion of Siberia,” Thoman told the Associated Press.
Below average Arctic sea ice levels for this time of year are partly to blame for this recent burst of warmth. November's sea ice in the Arctic was the eighth lowest since 1979, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
Climate change is contributing to a loss of sea ice in the Arctic region and making warmer temperatures possible.
The other part of the equation to Monday's all-time record high is a storm system that drew in southerly winds. Those winds flowed down the slope of mountains to Utqiagvik's south, compressing the air and causing it to warm dramatically.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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