Average Weather at New Wasilla Airport Alaska, United States

1. World
2. United States
3. Alaska
4. Matanuska-Susitna Borough
5. New Wasilla Airport

At New Wasilla Airport, the summers are cool and mostly cloudy and the winters are long, freezing, snowy, and partly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 10°F to 67°F and is rarely below -13°F or above 76°F.

The warm season lasts for 3.7 months, from May 17 to September 9, with an average daily high temperature above 59°F. The hottest day of the year is July 14, with an average high of 67°F and low of 51°F.

The cold season lasts for 4.0 months, from November 3 to March 4, with an average daily high temperature below 33°F. The coldest day of the year is January 17, with an average low of 10°F and high of 25°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 New Wasilla 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 New Wasilla Airport begins around January 11 and lasts for 3.3 months, ending around April 21. On March 16, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 50% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 50% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 21 and lasts for 8.7 months, ending around January 11. On July 10, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 64% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 36% 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 New Wasilla Airport varies throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 4.4 months, from June 10 to October 23, with a greater than 27% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 41% on September 11.

The drier season lasts 7.6 months, from October 23 to June 10. The smallest chance of a wet day is 13% on March 28.

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 New Wasilla Airport changes throughout the year.

Rain alone is the most common for 7.9 months, from March 13 to November 8. The highest chance of a day with rain alone is 41% on September 11.

Snow alone is the most common for 4.1 months, from November 8 to March 13. The highest chance of a day with snow alone is 12% on December 15.

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. New Wasilla Airport experiences significant seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 9.4 months, from April 10 to January 21, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around August 26, with an average total accumulation of 3.3 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 2.6 months, from January 21 to April 10. The least rain falls around March 15, 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. New Wasilla Airport experiences some seasonal variation in monthly liquid-equivalent snowfall.

The snowy period of the year lasts for 6.3 months, from October 5 to April 15, 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 0.8 inches.

The snowless period of the year lasts for 5.7 months, from April 15 to October 5. The least snow falls around July 25, with an average total liquid-equivalent accumulation of 0.0 inches.

The length of the day at New Wasilla Airport varies extremely over the course of the year. In 2017, the shortest day is December 21, with 5 hours, 19 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 21, with 19 hours, 32 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise is at 4:13 AM on June 19, and the latest sunrise is 6 hours, 5 minutes later at 10:18 AM on December 26. The earliest sunset is at 3:34 PM on December 16, and the latest sunset is 8 hours, 12 minutes later at 11:46 PM on June 22.

Daylight saving time (DST) is observed at New Wasilla 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 New Wasilla 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 New Wasilla Airport experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 5.2 months, from November 3 to April 9, with average wind speeds of more than 2.9 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is January 8, with an average hourly wind speed of 3.8 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 6.8 months, from April 9 to November 3. The calmest day of the year is July 6, with an average hourly wind speed of 2.0 miles per hour.

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

The wind is most often from the south for 4.1 months, from May 6 to September 8, with a peak percentage of 63% on July 3. The wind is most often from the east for 7.9 months, from September 8 to May 6, with a peak percentage of 73% on January 1.

New Wasilla 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 2.5 months, from July 7 to September 22, with an average temperature above 48°F. The day of the year with the warmest water is August 16, with an average temperature of 52°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 March 3, with an average temperature of 32°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 29 to July 30, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 4.7 kWh. The brightest day of the year is June 8, with an average of 5.8 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 4.1 months, from October 18 to February 21, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 1.3 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 New Wasilla Airport are 61.572 deg latitude, -149.541 deg longitude, and 338 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of New Wasilla Airport contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 236 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 350 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (3,688 feet). Within 50 miles also contains extreme variations in elevation (9,551 feet).

The area within 2 miles of New Wasilla Airport is covered by trees (51%), artificial surfaces (35%), and sparse vegetation (13%), within 10 miles by trees (42%) and sparse vegetation (17%), and within 50 miles by trees (27%) and shrubs (20%).

This report illustrates the typical weather at New Wasilla 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

New Wasilla 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 Birchwood Airport, Bryant Army Heliport, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Palmer Municipal Airport, Merrill Field Airport, Lake Hood Seaplane Base, Anchorage International Airport, and Talkeetna 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.