Anchorage, Alaska, experienced a record high temperature of 42 degrees Fahrenheit on January 6, 2025, attributed to a persistent southerly flow bringing warm air from the Pacific Ocean. Climate experts explain the phenomenon and its potential link to climate change.
A parents helps their child walk across the street near Midtown in Anchorage on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. Anchorage hit a record high temperature of 42 degrees on Monday, a degree warmer than the previous record for this date set in 2014. National Weather Service climate researcher Brian Brettschneider said this winter, the state has seen a dominant weather pattern of southerly flows bringing warm weather from across the Pacific Ocean.
As the air flows over that really, really warm water, it warms up more than it used to, Brettschneider said. So that's one part, and then it also holds more moisture, because warmer air has the capacity to hold more moisture. He said it’s not uncommon for a weather pattern to take hold for a large chunk of the winter, but this winter has seen a few colder spells. Fairbanks almost hit 40-below about a week ago, Brettschneider said. So we can still get cold, but having a dominant flow pattern that lasts for much of the winter is pretty common. Brettschneider said it’s hard to pin the southerly flow of warm weather to changes due to a warming climate. However, he noted that diminished sea ice in the Arctic is adding heat to the atmosphere and that can make it easier for storms to form. Despite the fourth snowiest October on record, roughly half of the precipitation in Anchorage has been rain this winter. Brettschneider said that pattern is becoming more common. It's happened before, Brettschneider said. But it's happened now, three or four times since about the year 2000. So there definitely seems to be an increase in the propensity for that to happen. Alaska is currently in a La Niña weather pattern, which typically means cooler northerly systems coming through the state. Brettschneider said it’s still possible the La Niña will bring some cool weather to the state, but for now, the forecast looks warm
WEATHER CLIMATE CHANGE ANCHORAGE ALASKA RECORD TEMPERATURES
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