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FAIRBANKS — Cooler than normal weather spread throughout Alaska this July. Several locations posted one of the top 10 coldest Julys on record this year. For many locations, the nighttime lows were near normal, though the daytime highs failed to get much summer warmth. In addition to the cold, many areas were also wetter than normal. During the last week of the month, rainfall was particularly heavy in the east-central Interior with some weather stations reporting daily totals of more than 2 inches. Flooding was reported along area rivers, such as portions of the Tanana and Chena, and at the end of the month the Chena Lakes Flood Control Project was put to use to protect residents in the Fairbanks area.

July was wet, cool and there were a few new daily records in Fairbanks. The monthly precipitation total of 4.12 inches is the fifth wettest on record, but is more than an inch behind the record set only a few years ago in 2003. This is more than twice the normal total of 1.73 inches and there were only 10 dry days during the month. The last week of July reported 2.85 inches, the second wettest on record. On July 28 and 29, daily precipitation totals of 1.14 inches and 0.77 inches set new records for their respective dates. Low temperatures averaged 52 degrees Fahrenheit, which is normal for July, however high temperatures averaged only 69 degrees, which is four degrees below normal for July. The average temperature for the month was 60.6 degrees, 1.8 degrees colder than normal. There were only three days when the high was above 80 degrees, as opposed to the normal six days above 80 degrees. On 11 days, the high was above 70 degrees. The high for the month was 85 degrees on July 4 and the low of 44 degrees occurred on July 22 and 24. Winds averaged 5 mph at the airport with the highest gusts of 32 mph out of the northwest on July 28.

Big Delta reported the wettest July on record with a total for the month of 6.77 inches, beating the old record of 6.18 inches set in 1945. The rainfall was 4 inches more than normal and 2.27 inches fell on July 28, setting a new record rainfall total for that date. There were only two days without any precipitation. Along with the wet weather was lower-than-normal temperatures. The average temperature was 4.7 degrees below normal at 56.1 degrees, making this July the second coldest on record and 0.8 degrees shy of the 1959 record. Highs averaged a relatively cool 64 degrees, six degrees cooler than normal, and lows averaged 48 degrees, three degrees cooler than normal. The high for the month was 82 degrees on July 4, which was one of only two days above 80 degrees. The low was 42 degrees on July 1 and 22.

In Anchorage, the cool and wet weather continued during July in what might end up being one of the coldest summers on record. July’s average monthly temperature of 55.4 degrees ranks as the third coldest since 1952 when observations began at the International Airport and is three degrees cooler than normal for July. With a temperature of 72 degrees, July 4 was one of only two days when the daytime high was more than 70 degrees. On the July 1, there was a low of 40 degrees. Average daytime high temperatures were 62 degrees and nighttime lows were 49 degrees, both of which are several degrees cooler than normal. Only six dry days occurred during the month with rainfall totaling 3.25 inches, making July 2008 the sixth wettest. A one-inch rainfall on July 17 was a new record.

After several months of above-normal average temperatures, the station at the Barrow airport reported temperatures half a degree cooler than normal. The average for the month was 39.9 degrees and the average high and low temperatures were 45 degrees and 35 degrees, respectively. The highest temperature of 59 degrees occurred on July 8 and the lowest of 29 degrees occurred on the last day of the month. A record daily precipitation event occurred on July 19 with 0.38 inches falling that day. Most of the precipitation took place during the latter half of the month and totaled 1.35 inches, almost half an inch more than normal. A trace of snowfall occurred during the month, though nothing was on the ground for any length of time.

Nome reported temperature records on both ends of the spectrum in an overall cool and wet month. Temperatures started out quite warm and on July 5 the high of 83 degrees eclipsed the old record of 76 degrees for this date set just last year. After the first week, the temperatures plummeted and on the July 27 the low of 32 degrees beat the previous record. These records were both the highest and lowest temperatures for the month, though the average high and low temperatures were a more moderate 55 degrees and 44 degrees, respectively. The average monthly temperature was 2.6 degrees cooler than normal at 49.6 degrees. There were only eight dry days this July and the monthly precipitation total was 3.09 inches, about an inch more than normal. The heaviest rain occurred on July 12 with 0.7 inches.

Cool weather and heavy rainfall greeted Juneau residents this July. The average temperature of 53.3 degrees was 3.5 degrees below normal and ranked as the third-coldest on record. Nighttime lows averaged within a degree of normal at 48 degrees, though daytime highs were more than 6 degrees colder than normal at 58 degrees, the record coldest average high temperature for July. A record-low temperature of 39 degrees was reported on July 21, which was also the low for the month. The high of 73 degrees, one of only two days above 70, occurred on July 3. Though the normal July rainfall total is 4.14 inches at the airport, this July was the second wettest on record with 8.25 inches, twice the normal amount. Only one dry day was observed and the highest daily rainfall amount was a record 1.9 inches on July 18. Two more daily rainfall records occurred during the month with 1.55 inches on July 8 and 0.66 inches on July 25.

Ketchikan had a top 10 July rainfall, more than twice the normal amount, with 14.23 inches for the month, which was the seventh wettest July on record. This included five days when the daily amount was more than one inch and only nine days that were dry. As happened elsewhere in the southeast panhandle, temperatures averaged almost 3 degrees below normal with a mean for the month of 55 degrees. High and low temperatures were also a few degrees below normal at 60 degrees and 50 degrees, respectively. Only once did the high temperature rise above 70 degrees; on July 1, Ketchikan reached its high for the month at 75 degrees. On July 9, the low for the month of 45 degrees was reported. The nighttime low was in the 40s on eight occasions.

It was the seventh coldest July in King Salmon this year with a mean temperature for the month of 52.6 degrees, a decrease of 2.7 degrees. On July 28, the low for the month of 36 degrees set a new record for this date. Just two days later on July 30, the high for the month of 74 degrees was observed. The average high and low temperatures were on the cool side by several degrees at 60 degrees and 45 degrees, respectively. Rainfall totaled 2.53 inches for the month, which is 0.38 more than normal, and the greatest daily event was 0.53 inches on July 16.