Winter Weather in Soldotna Alaska, United StatesDaily high temperatures increase by 7°F, from 24°F to 32°F, rarely falling below 3°F or exceeding 41°F. The lowest daily average high temperature is 23°F on January 13. Daily low temperatures are around 11°F, rarely falling below -16°F or exceeding 30°F. The lowest daily average low temperature is 9°F on January 20. For reference, on July 19, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Soldotna typically range from 49°F to 64°F, while on January 19, the coldest day of the year, they range from 9°F to 23°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average winter temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. Ås, Sweden (3,859 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Soldotna (view comparison). CloudsThe winter in Soldotna experiences gradually decreasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy decreasing from 58% to 53%. The highest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 61% on December 17. The clearest day of the winter is February 28, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 47% of the time. For reference, on December 17, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 61%, while on March 15, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 48%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Soldotna, the chance of a wet day over the course of the winter is rapidly decreasing, starting the season at 32% and ending it at 25%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 43% on September 26, and its lowest chance is 19% on May 8. Over the course of the winter in Soldotna, the chance of a day with only rain remains an essentially constant 6% throughout, the chance of a day with mixed snow and rain remains an essentially constant 7% throughout, and the chance of a day with only snow decreases from 19% to 12%. RainfallTo show variation within the season and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day rainfall during the winter in Soldotna is essentially constant, remaining about 0.7 inches throughout, and rarely exceeding 2.2 inches. SnowfallAs with rainfall, we consider the snowfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day snowfall during the winter in Soldotna is very rapidly decreasing, starting the season at 14.6 inches, when it rarely exceeds 25.3 inches or falls below 5.2 inches, and ending the season at 9.0 inches, when it rarely exceeds 17.9 inches or falls below 1.8 inches. The highest average 31-day accumulation is 15.8 inches on December 22. SunOver the course of the winter in Soldotna, the length of the day is very rapidly increasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day increases by 4 hours, 8 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 2 minutes, 47 seconds, and weekly increase of 19 minutes, 32 seconds. The shortest day of the winter is December 21, with 5 hours, 43 minutes of daylight and the longest day is February 28, with 10 hours, 25 minutes of daylight. The latest sunrise of the winter in Soldotna is 10:12 AM on December 26 and the earliest sunrise is 2 hours, 8 minutes earlier at 8:04 AM on February 28. The earliest sunset is 3:52 PM on December 15 and the latest sunset is 2 hours, 37 minutes later at 6:29 PM on February 28. Daylight saving time is observed in Soldotna during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during the winter, so the entire season is in standard time. For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 4:34 AM and sets 19 hours, 4 minutes later, at 11:37 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 10:11 AM and sets 5 hours, 43 minutes later, at 3:54 PM. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for the winter of 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon. HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. The chance that a given day will be muggy in Soldotna is essentially constant during the winter, remaining around 0% throughout. WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed in Soldotna is essentially constant during the winter, remaining within 0.3 miles per hour of 9.0 miles per hour throughout. For reference, on January 8, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 9.3 miles per hour, while on June 26, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 5.3 miles per hour. The highest daily average wind speed during the winter is 9.3 miles per hour on January 8. The hourly average wind direction in Soldotna throughout the winter is predominantly from the north, with a peak proportion of 55% on February 27. Water TemperatureSoldotna is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water. The average surface water temperature in Soldotna is decreasing during the winter, falling by 4°F, from 37°F to 33°F, over the course of the season. The lowest average surface water temperature during the winter is 33°F on February 14. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). The growing season in Soldotna typically lasts for 3.7 months (115 days), from around May 22 to around September 14, rarely starting before May 6 or after June 7, and rarely ending before August 26 or after October 3. The winter in Soldotna is reliably fully outside of the growing season. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. The average accumulated growing degree days in Soldotna are rapidly decreasing during the winter, decreasing by 591°F, from 591°F to 0°F, over the course of the season. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Soldotna is increasing during the winter, rising by 1.4 kWh, from 0.3 kWh to 1.7 kWh, over the course of the season. The lowest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during the winter is 0.2 kWh on December 20. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Soldotna are 60.488 deg latitude, -151.058 deg longitude, and 102 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Soldotna contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 282 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 130 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (676 feet). Within 50 miles contains significant variations in elevation (6,581 feet). The area within 2 miles of Soldotna is covered by trees (52%), sparse vegetation (27%), and artificial surfaces (19%), within 10 miles by trees (61%) and herbaceous vegetation (15%), and within 50 miles by water (33%) and trees (27%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Soldotna, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointThere are 2 weather stations near enough to contribute to our estimation of the temperature and dew point in Soldotna. For each station, the records are corrected for the elevation difference between that station and Soldotna according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations. The estimated value at Soldotna is computed as the weighted average of the individual contributions from each station, with weights proportional to the inverse of the distance between Soldotna and a given station. The stations contributing to this reconstruction are:
To get a sense of how much these sources agree with each other, you can view a comparison of Soldotna and the stations that contribute to our estimates of its temperature history and climate. Please note that each source's contribution is adjusted for elevation and the relative change present in the MERRA-2 data. Other DataAll data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com . Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page. |