Average Weather at Point Hope Airport Alaska, United States

1. World
2. United States
3. Alaska
4. North Slope Borough
5. Point Hope Airport

At Point Hope Airport, the summers are cold and windy; the winters are long, frigid, snowy, and extremely windy; and it is overcast year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from -7°F to 51°F and is rarely below -27°F or above 58°F.

The warm season lasts for 3.2 months, from June 13 to September 19, with an average daily high temperature above 41°F. The hottest day of the year is July 28, with an average high of 51°F and low of 44°F.

The cold season lasts for 4.3 months, from November 29 to April 9, with an average daily high temperature below 13°F. The coldest day of the year is February 8, with an average low of -7°F and high of 3°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 Point Hope 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 Point Hope Airport begins around July 8 and lasts for 4.2 months, ending around November 14. On September 18, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 37% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 63% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 14 and lasts for 7.8 months, ending around July 8. On December 31, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 86% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 14% 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 Point Hope Airport varies throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 3.0 months, from July 1 to September 30, with a greater than 16% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 27% on July 30.

The drier season lasts 9.1 months, from September 30 to July 1. The smallest chance of a wet day is 4% on March 18.

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 Point Hope Airport changes throughout the year.

Snow alone is the most common for 6.2 months, from October 22 to April 28. The highest chance of a day with snow alone is 10% on January 8.

Rain alone is the most common for 5.8 months, from April 28 to October 22. The highest chance of a day with rain alone is 27% on July 30.

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. Point Hope Airport experiences some seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 4.5 months, from May 30 to October 15, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around August 3, with an average total accumulation of 1.9 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 7.5 months, from October 15 to May 30. The least rain falls around March 25, with an average total accumulation of 0.0 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. Point Hope Airport experiences some seasonal variation in monthly liquid-equivalent snowfall.

The snowy period of the year lasts for 8.2 months, from September 28 to June 5, 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 29, with an average total liquid-equivalent accumulation of 0.5 inches.

The snowless period of the year lasts for 3.8 months, from June 5 to September 28. The least snow falls around August 3, with an average total liquid-equivalent accumulation of 0.0 inches.

Due to its extreme latitude, Point Hope Airport experiences polar day (also known as the midnight Sun) during the summer and polar night during the winter. These are periods of time in which the sun is continuously above or below the horizon for more than one day. The precise start and end dates of polar day and night vary from year to year and depend on the precise location and elevation of the observer, and the local topography.

In the summer at Point Hope Airport during 2017, the Sun is continuously above the horizon for 1.9 months, rising at 3:31 AM on May 23, and not setting again until 2:58 AM on July 19.

In the winter at Point Hope Airport during 2017, the Sun is continuously below the horizon for 1.0 months, setting at 1:57 PM on December 5, and not rising again until 1:51 PM on January 6.

Daylight saving time (DST) is observed at Point Hope 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 Point Hope 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 Point Hope Airport experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 7.1 months, from September 11 to April 13, with average wind speeds of more than 7.8 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is December 4, with an average hourly wind speed of 10.0 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 4.9 months, from April 13 to September 11. The calmest day of the year is June 29, with an average hourly wind speed of 5.8 miles per hour.

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

The wind is most often from the south for 1.6 months, from June 21 to August 9, with a peak percentage of 44% on July 5. The wind is most often from the north for 1.9 months, from August 9 to October 5 and for 6.8 months, from November 26 to June 21, with a peak percentage of 42% on September 14. The wind is most often from the east for 1.7 months, from October 5 to November 26, with a peak percentage of 44% on November 6.

Point Hope 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 some seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The time of year with warmer water lasts for 2.1 months, from July 19 to September 21, with an average temperature above 43°F. The day of the year with the warmest water is August 21, with an average temperature of 46°F.

The time of year with cooler water lasts for 6.8 months, from November 11 to June 4, with an average temperature below 32°F. The day of the year with the coolest water is January 28, with an average temperature of 29°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 extreme seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The brighter period of the year lasts for 2.7 months, from April 27 to July 18, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 4.4 kWh. The brightest day of the year is May 30, with an average of 5.5 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 5.1 months, from October 3 to March 6, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 1.1 kWh. The darkest day of the year is December 21, with an average of 0.0 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Point Hope Airport are 68.349 deg latitude, -166.799 deg longitude, and 0 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Point Hope Airport is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 10 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 1 feet. Within 10 miles is also essentially flat (62 feet). Within 50 miles is essentially flat (2,129 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Point Hope Airport is covered by water (82%) and sparse vegetation (12%), within 10 miles by water (95%), and within 50 miles by water (78%) and shrubs (11%).

This report illustrates the typical weather at Point Hope 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

Point Hope 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 Cape Lisburne LRRS Airport and Kivalina 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.