A major change in the way Alaskans are warned of abnormally warm weather has occurred with the issuance of a Heat Advisory for the first time by the National Weather Service office in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Until recently, Fairbanks and other forecast offices in Alaska relied on Special Weather Statements to warn the public about sudden heat instead of issuing such advisories.
On June 2, however, rules were amended to allow Alaskan offices to use the Heat advisory product, bringing them more in line with Lower 48 norms.
The Last Frontier has different thresholds for when an alarm should be issued. For example, some parts of the North Slope only need to hit 75 degrees, whereas Fairbanks has a higher threshold of 85 degrees.
A Heat Advisory will be in effect for the more than 30,000 people of Fairbanks, as the NWS office there predicts that several days in the near future will reach at least 85 degrees.
Even while the recorded temperature of 85 degrees is 15 to 20 degrees higher than the typical mid-June temperature, it is still far below the 1969 record of 96 degrees.
Locals said the advisory highlights the region’s particular vulnerabilities in dealing with exceptional warmth, even though the temperatures may appear mild in comparison to those experienced during heat waves in the Lower 48.
For instance, according to estimates from the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas Energy Institute, roughly 7% of Californian homes have enough air conditioning.
When a building’s natural ventilation is disrupted by the absence of air conditioning and practices such as using curtains and blinds to obscure more than 20 hours of sunshine during the meteorological summer, internal temperatures can rise to uncomfortable levels.
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Many Alaskans spend a significant amount of their day outside, and the state provides countless outdoor activities thanks to the more than 50 million acres of wilderness that are protected by several conservation organisations.
Therefore, a population that is more used to temperatures in the 60s and 70s during this time of year may experience stress when temps rise to the mid-80s.
As of right now, Alaskan NWS offices continue to refrain from issuing Heat Watches or Heat Warnings, which are only issued in response to more severe heat events that are usually observed in the Lower 48.
Cities like Anchorage and Juneau, according to forecasters, will hardly ever qualify for a Heat Advisory because of the North Pacific Ocean’s cooling effect, which significantly reduces temperatures.
But because Fairbanks is more inland and farther away from the ocean, it is more susceptible to heat waves, dry spells, and wildfires, all of which can have an impact on the quality of the air.
The hottest high temperature in the city often hits 74 degrees in early July before beginning its daily decline and ending the season in the mid 60s.
