Average Weather at Koliganek Airport Alaska, United States

1. World
2. United States
3. Alaska
4. Dillingham Census Area
5. Koliganek Airport

At Koliganek Airport, the summers are cool and mostly cloudy and the winters are long, freezing, snowy, windy, and partly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 7°F to 65°F and is rarely below -18°F or above 74°F.

The warm season lasts for 3.6 months, from May 24 to September 12, with an average daily high temperature above 56°F. The hottest day of the year is July 15, with an average high of 65°F and low of 48°F.

The cold season lasts for 4.4 months, from November 9 to March 21, with an average daily high temperature below 29°F. The coldest day of the year is January 19, with an average low of 7°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 Koliganek 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 Koliganek Airport begins around February 2 and lasts for 4.7 months, ending around June 22. On March 19, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 44% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 56% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around June 22 and lasts for 7.3 months, ending around February 2. On December 18, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 67% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 33% 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 Koliganek Airport varies throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 6.8 months, from July 2 to January 28, with a greater than 31% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 40% on September 8.

The drier season lasts 5.2 months, from January 28 to July 2. The smallest chance of a wet day is 20% on April 17.

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 Koliganek Airport changes throughout the year.

Rain alone is the most common for 7.1 months, from April 5 to November 6. The highest chance of a day with rain alone is 40% on September 8.

Snow alone is the most common for 4.9 months, from November 6 to April 5. The highest chance of a day with snow alone is 20% on December 13.

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. Koliganek Airport experiences significant seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 11 months, from March 27 to February 24, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around September 15, with an average total accumulation of 3.9 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 1.1 months, from February 24 to March 27. The least rain falls around March 12, with an average total accumulation of 0.4 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. Koliganek Airport experiences significant seasonal variation in monthly liquid-equivalent snowfall.

The snowy period of the year lasts for 7.3 months, from September 27 to May 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 22, with an average total liquid-equivalent accumulation of 1.7 inches.

The snowless period of the year lasts for 4.7 months, from May 5 to September 27. The least snow falls around July 21, with an average total liquid-equivalent accumulation of 0.0 inches.

The length of the day at Koliganek Airport varies extremely over the course of the year. In 2017, the shortest day is December 21, with 5 hours, 57 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 21, with 18 hours, 46 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise is at 5:07 AM on June 18, and the latest sunrise is 5 hours, 22 minutes later at 10:30 AM on December 26. The earliest sunset is at 4:24 PM on December 15, and the latest sunset is 7 hours, 29 minutes later at 11:54 PM on June 22.

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

The windier part of the year lasts for 5.6 months, from October 22 to April 11, with average wind speeds of more than 6.2 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is January 30, with an average hourly wind speed of 7.9 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 6.4 months, from April 11 to October 22. The calmest day of the year is June 28, with an average hourly wind speed of 4.5 miles per hour.

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

The wind is most often from the east for 1.5 months, from May 1 to June 15, with a peak percentage of 37% on May 25. The wind is most often from the south for 2.6 months, from June 15 to September 2, with a peak percentage of 42% on July 28. The wind is most often from the north for 8.0 months, from September 2 to May 1, with a peak percentage of 46% on January 1.

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 May 1 to July 31, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 4.4 kWh. The brightest day of the year is June 20, with an average of 5.5 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 4.0 months, from October 19 to February 19, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 1.3 kWh. The darkest day of the year is December 20, with an average of 0.2 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Koliganek Airport are 59.727 deg latitude, -157.267 deg longitude, and 207 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Koliganek Airport contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 180 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 230 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (1,568 feet). Within 50 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (2,713 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Koliganek Airport is covered by shrubs (55%) and sparse vegetation (28%), within 10 miles by shrubs (73%) and sparse vegetation (15%), and within 50 miles by shrubs (73%) and trees (13%).

This report illustrates the typical weather at Koliganek 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

Koliganek 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 New Stuyahok Airport, King Salmon Airport, Dillingham Airport, Igiugig Airport, Egegik Airport, Manokotak Airport, Iliamna Airport, and Togiak 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.