Average Weather at Mekoryuk Airport Alaska, United States

1. World
2. United States
3. Alaska
4. Bethel Census Area
5. Mekoryuk Airport

At Mekoryuk Airport, the summers are cold and windy; the winters are long, freezing, snowy, and extremely windy; and it is overcast year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 8°F to 56°F and is rarely below -11°F or above 62°F.

The warm season lasts for 3.5 months, from June 8 to September 24, with an average daily high temperature above 48°F. The hottest day of the year is August 3, with an average high of 56°F and low of 47°F.

The cold season lasts for 4.2 months, from November 30 to April 5, with an average daily high temperature below 25°F. The coldest day of the year is January 20, with an average low of 8°F and high of 18°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the entire year of hourly average temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day of the year, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

At Mekoryuk Airport, the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year at Mekoryuk Airport begins around August 24 and lasts for 2.4 months, ending around November 5. On October 6, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 40% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 60% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 5 and lasts for 9.6 months, ending around August 24. On December 29, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 83% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 17% of the time.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days at Mekoryuk Airport varies throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 4.2 months, from July 20 to November 27, with a greater than 26% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 37% on September 11.

The drier season lasts 7.8 months, from November 27 to July 20. The smallest chance of a wet day is 14% on April 22.

Among wet days, we distinguish between those that experience rain alone, snow alone, or a mixture of the two. Based on this categorization, the most common form of precipitation at Mekoryuk Airport changes throughout the year.

Rain alone is the most common for 6.9 months, from April 22 to November 17. The highest chance of a day with rain alone is 37% on September 11.

Snow alone is the most common for 5.0 months, from November 17 to April 18. The highest chance of a day with snow alone is 17% on January 7.

Mixed snow and rain is the most common for 4.0 days, from April 18 to April 22. The highest chance of a day with mixed snow and rain is 7% on November 23.

Rainfall

To show variation within the months and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. Mekoryuk Airport experiences significant seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 7.6 months, from April 27 to December 16, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around September 4, with an average total accumulation of 2.8 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 4.4 months, from December 16 to April 27. The least rain falls around March 21, with an average total accumulation of 0.2 inches.

Snowfall

We report snowfall in liquid-equivalent terms. The actual depth of new snowfall is typically between 5 and 10 times the liquid-equivalent amount, assuming the ground is frozen. Colder, drier snow tends to be on the higher end of that range and warmer, wetter snow on the lower end.

As with rainfall, we consider the snowfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. Mekoryuk Airport experiences significant seasonal variation in monthly liquid-equivalent snowfall.

The snowy period of the year lasts for 7.4 months, from October 8 to May 19, with a sliding 31-day liquid-equivalent snowfall of at least 0.1 inches. The most snow falls during the 31 days centered around December 31, with an average total liquid-equivalent accumulation of 1.0 inches.

The snowless period of the year lasts for 4.6 months, from May 19 to October 8. The least snow falls around July 27, with an average total liquid-equivalent accumulation of 0.0 inches.

The length of the day at Mekoryuk Airport varies extremely over the course of the year. In 2017, the shortest day is December 21, with 5 hours, 45 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 21, with 19 hours, 1 minute of daylight.

The earliest sunrise is at 5:36 AM on June 18, and the latest sunrise is 5 hours, 36 minutes later at 11:12 AM on December 26. The earliest sunset is at 4:54 PM on December 15, and the latest sunset is 7 hours, 43 minutes later at 12:37 AM on June 22.

Daylight saving time (DST) is observed at Mekoryuk Airport during 2017, starting in the spring on March 12, lasting 7.8 months, and ending in the fall on November 5.

We 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 perceived humidity level at Mekoryuk Airport, as measured by the percentage of time in which the humidity comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable, does not vary significantly over the course of the year, remaining a virtually constant 0% throughout.

This 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 at Mekoryuk Airport experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 7.7 months, from August 31 to April 20, with average wind speeds of more than 8.2 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is November 21, with an average hourly wind speed of 10.2 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 4.4 months, from April 20 to August 31. The calmest day of the year is June 27, with an average hourly wind speed of 6.1 miles per hour.

The predominant average hourly wind direction at Mekoryuk Airport varies throughout the year.

The wind is most often from the north for 4.1 months, from February 23 to June 26 and for 5.6 months, from August 26 to February 16, with a peak percentage of 45% on April 21. The wind is most often from the south for 2.6 weeks, from June 26 to July 14 and for 6.0 days, from July 25 to July 31, with a peak percentage of 32% on July 7. The wind is most often from the west for 1.6 weeks, from July 14 to July 25 and for 3.7 weeks, from July 31 to August 26, with a peak percentage of 32% on August 8.

Mekoryuk Airport 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 water temperature experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The time of year with warmer water lasts for 2.5 months, from July 15 to October 1, with an average temperature above 47°F. The day of the year with the warmest water is August 25, with an average temperature of 51°F.

The time of year with cooler water lasts for 6.1 months, from November 20 to May 23, with an average temperature below 35°F. The day of the year with the coolest water is January 22, with an average temperature of 31°F.

This 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 experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The brighter period of the year lasts for 3.0 months, from April 24 to July 25, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 4.1 kWh. The brightest day of the year is June 3, with an average of 5.1 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 4.2 months, from October 16 to February 21, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 1.2 kWh. The darkest day of the year is December 22, with an average of 0.1 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Mekoryuk Airport are 60.371 deg latitude, -166.271 deg longitude, and 36 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Mekoryuk Airport contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 138 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 42 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (709 feet). Within 50 miles contains significant variations in elevation (1,657 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Mekoryuk Airport is covered by grassland (46%), water (39%), and shrubs (14%), within 10 miles by water (55%) and grassland (34%), and within 50 miles by water (77%) and grassland (13%).

This report illustrates the typical weather at Mekoryuk Airport, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016.

Temperature and Dew Point

Mekoryuk Airport has a weather station that reported reliably enough during the analysis period that we have included it in our network. When available, historical temperature and dew point measurements are taken directly from this weather station. These records are obtained from NOAA's Integrated Surface Hourly data set, falling back on ICAO METAR records as required.

In the case of missing or erroneous measurements from this station, we fall back on records from nearby stations, adjusted according to typical seasonal and diurnal intra-station differences. For a given day of the year and hour of the day, the fallback station is selected to minimize the prediction error over the years for which there are measurements for both stations.

The stations on which we may fall back are Toksook Bay Airport, Hooper Bay Airport, Chevak Airport, Cape Romanzof LRRS Airport, and Scammon Bay Airport.

Other Data

All data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets , 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 aiports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com .

Maps are © Esri, with data from National Geographic, Esri, DeLorme, NAVTEQ, UNEP-WCMC, USGS, NASA, ESA, METI, NRCAN, GEBCO, NOAA, and iPC.