Average Weather at Kipnuk Airport Alaska, United States

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

At Kipnuk Airport, the summers are cool 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 9°F to 58°F and is rarely below -13°F or above 65°F.

The warm season lasts for 3.8 months, from May 27 to September 20, with an average daily high temperature above 50°F. The hottest day of the year is July 25, with an average high of 58°F and low of 50°F.

The cold season lasts for 4.3 months, from November 21 to March 30, with an average daily high temperature below 27°F. The coldest day of the year is January 19, with an average low of 9°F and high of 19°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 Kipnuk 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 Kipnuk Airport begins around August 24 and lasts for 2.8 months, ending around November 17. On October 13, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 42% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 58% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 17 and lasts for 9.2 months, ending around August 24. On January 1, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 79% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 21% 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 Kipnuk Airport varies throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 4.6 months, from July 8 to November 27, with a greater than 27% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 39% on August 23.

The drier season lasts 7.4 months, from November 27 to July 8. The smallest chance of a wet day is 15% on April 20.

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 Kipnuk Airport changes throughout the year.

Rain alone is the most common for 7.7 months, from April 4 to November 23. The highest chance of a day with rain alone is 39% on August 23.

Snow alone is the most common for 4.3 months, from November 23 to April 4. The highest chance of a day with snow alone is 13% on January 24.

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. Kipnuk Airport experiences significant seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 11 months, from March 30 to March 4, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around August 27, with an average total accumulation of 3.2 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 3.7 weeks, from March 4 to March 30. The least rain falls around March 14, with an average total accumulation of 0.5 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. Kipnuk Airport experiences some seasonal variation in monthly liquid-equivalent snowfall.

The snowy period of the year lasts for 6.8 months, from October 8 to May 3, 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 2, with an average total liquid-equivalent accumulation of 0.9 inches.

The snowless period of the year lasts for 5.2 months, from May 3 to October 8. The least snow falls around July 25, with an average total liquid-equivalent accumulation of 0.0 inches.

The length of the day at Kipnuk Airport varies extremely over the course of the year. In 2017, the shortest day is December 21, with 5 hours, 54 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 21, with 18 hours, 51 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise is at 5:32 AM on June 18, and the latest sunrise is 5 hours, 27 minutes later at 10:59 AM on December 26. The earliest sunset is at 4:49 PM on December 15, and the latest sunset is 7 hours, 34 minutes later at 12:23 AM on June 22.

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

The windier part of the year lasts for 7.3 months, from September 9 to April 19, with average wind speeds of more than 7.5 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is January 22, with an average hourly wind speed of 9.4 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 4.7 months, from April 19 to September 9. The calmest day of the year is June 27, with an average hourly wind speed of 5.6 miles per hour.

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

The wind is most often from the south for 1.9 months, from June 7 to August 5, with a peak percentage of 35% on July 29. The wind is most often from the west for 3.6 weeks, from August 5 to August 30, with a peak percentage of 33% on August 8. The wind is most often from the north for 9.2 months, from August 30 to June 7, with a peak percentage of 41% on January 1.

Kipnuk 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 8 to September 24, with an average temperature above 49°F. The day of the year with the warmest water is August 15, with an average temperature of 54°F.

The time of year with cooler water lasts for 6.0 months, from November 14 to May 15, with an average temperature below 36°F. The day of the year with the coolest water is January 28, 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 extreme seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The brighter period of the year lasts for 3.0 months, from April 26 to July 26, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 4.2 kWh. The brightest day of the year is June 5, with an average of 5.2 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 4.1 months, from October 17 to February 20, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 1.2 kWh. The darkest day of the year is December 21, with an average of 0.2 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Kipnuk Airport are 59.933 deg latitude, -164.031 deg longitude, and 13 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Kipnuk Airport is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 20 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 13 feet. Within 10 miles is also essentially flat (33 feet). Within 50 miles is essentially flat (820 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Kipnuk Airport is covered by herbaceous vegetation (53%) and water (35%), within 10 miles by water (46%) and herbaceous vegetation (33%), and within 50 miles by water (70%) and herbaceous vegetation (14%).

This report illustrates the typical weather at Kipnuk 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

Kipnuk 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 Bethel Airport, Russian Mission Airport, Kalskag Airport, Marshall Don Hunter Sr. Airport, and Aniak 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.