Average Weather at Russian Mission Airport Alaska, United States

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2. United States
3. Alaska
4. Russian Mission Airport

At Russian Mission Airport, the summers are cool; the winters are long, frigid, snowy, and windy; and it is mostly cloudy year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from -2°F to 66°F and is rarely below -33°F or above 76°F.

The warm season lasts for 3.7 months, from May 20 to September 10, with an average daily high temperature above 55°F. The hottest day of the year is July 1, with an average high of 66°F and low of 48°F.

The cold season lasts for 3.8 months, from November 14 to March 8, with an average daily high temperature below 24°F. The coldest day of the year is January 18, with an average low of -2°F and high of 13°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 Russian Mission Airport, the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year at Russian Mission Airport begins around January 12 and lasts for 6.0 months, ending around July 13. On May 11, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 41% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 59% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around July 13 and lasts for 6.0 months, ending around January 12. On December 17, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 72% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 28% 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 Russian Mission Airport varies throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 4.5 months, from July 9 to November 24, with a greater than 25% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 36% on August 10.

The drier season lasts 7.5 months, from November 24 to July 9. The smallest chance of a wet day is 13% on April 4.

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 Russian Mission Airport changes throughout the year.

Rain alone is the most common for 6.7 months, from April 9 to October 30. The highest chance of a day with rain alone is 36% on August 10.

Snow alone is the most common for 5.0 months, from October 30 to March 30. The highest chance of a day with snow alone is 15% on December 12.

Mixed snow and rain is the most common for 1.4 weeks, from March 30 to April 9. The highest chance of a day with mixed snow and rain is 9% on November 8.

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. Russian Mission Airport experiences significant seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 7.5 months, from April 13 to November 28, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around August 15, with an average total accumulation of 2.9 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 4.5 months, from November 28 to April 13. The least rain falls around March 13, with an average total accumulation of 0.3 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. Russian Mission Airport experiences significant seasonal variation in monthly liquid-equivalent snowfall.

The snowy period of the year lasts for 7.2 months, from September 30 to May 4, 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 6, with an average total liquid-equivalent accumulation of 1.0 inches.

The snowless period of the year lasts for 4.9 months, from May 4 to September 30. The least snow falls around July 22, with an average total liquid-equivalent accumulation of 0.0 inches.

The length of the day at Russian Mission Airport varies extremely over the course of the year. In 2017, the shortest day is December 21, with 5 hours, 14 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 21, with 19 hours, 38 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise is at 4:57 AM on June 19, and the latest sunrise is 6 hours, 10 minutes later at 11:07 AM on December 25. The earliest sunset is at 4:19 PM on December 16, and the latest sunset is 8 hours, 17 minutes later at 12:36 AM on June 22.

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

The windier part of the year lasts for 5.4 months, from October 27 to April 9, with average wind speeds of more than 5.9 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is January 28, with an average hourly wind speed of 7.5 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 6.6 months, from April 9 to October 27. The calmest day of the year is June 28, with an average hourly wind speed of 4.4 miles per hour.

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

The wind is most often from the north for 2.2 months, from March 23 to May 28 and for 1.1 months, from October 1 to November 5, with a peak percentage of 38% on March 23. The wind is most often from the south for 3.1 months, from May 28 to September 1, with a peak percentage of 39% on July 29. The wind is most often from the east for 1.0 months, from September 1 to October 1 and for 4.6 months, from November 5 to March 23, with a peak percentage of 32% on September 30.

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 27 to July 27, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 4.4 kWh. The brightest day of the year is June 12, with an average of 5.5 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 4.2 months, from October 15 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 21, with an average of 0.1 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Russian Mission Airport are 61.780 deg latitude, -161.318 deg longitude, and 30 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Russian Mission Airport contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 312 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 64 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (1,470 feet). Within 50 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (2,533 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Russian Mission Airport is covered by herbaceous vegetation (34%), trees (26%), water (22%), and shrubs (10%), within 10 miles by trees (36%) and herbaceous vegetation (34%), and within 50 miles by shrubs (41%) and herbaceous vegetation (27%).

This report illustrates the typical weather at Russian Mission 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

Russian Mission 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 include but are not limited to Marshall Don Hunter Sr. Airport, Kipnuk Airport, Kalskag Airport, Bethel Airport, Anvik Airport, Holy Cross Airport, Aniak Airport, and St. Mary's 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.