Around the world, we are seeing record highs in regions that are barely used to having springtime weather, and to add to that list, this week Alaska hit a record-breaking temperature on July 4rth, at a whopping 90 degrees. This temperature rises above the last record by a massive five degrees.
On June 14, 1969, at the Anchorage International Airport, at 5:00 pm, the region hit their last record of 85 degrees.
“Breaking an all-time record by this much is pretty unheard of in the climate community,” NBC News meteorologist Bill Karins said.
Similar to the last time, the high temperature was recorded and announced later in the day, after the record number was reported at the same airport. They had first reported that the temperature had reached 89.1, but later in the day, they updated the temperature to the actual metric.
And not only did Anchorage find record highs, ‘A plethora of daily and all-time records were set across southcentral and southwestern Alaska.’ on Thursday, but the National Weather Service also reported on Friday. Kenai and King Salmon, Alaska both hit records of 89 degrees, while the previous record was around 87-88 before.
And the city of Anchorage has also had it’s hottest June ever, according to the weather service. Average temperatures were around the 60.5-degree mark, which is 5.3 degrees above normal. Not only was it hotter, but it was also drier, due to .06 inches of rain during the month. Normally, they get around 0.97 inches, leaving them with 6% of the normal precipitation in the region.
Due to this dangerous mix, there were wildfires across the state that continue to be battled. And fireworks were suspended for sale during the month, because of the dangers associated.