KODIAK, Alaska — Kodiak residents expect it to rain, but not this much — especially in August.
Last month was the city’s fourth-wettest August on record. The 9.3 inches of rain that fell at the Benny Benson State Airport tied August 1964 for fourth on the list. The record remains August 1977, when 11.13 inches of rain fell, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported (http://is.gd/sVLfaO).
August normally is dry in Kodiak, where 4.56 inches of rain typically fall.
Even though August was sloppy, it put only a dent in Kodiak’s year-to-date precipitation deficit.
As of Monday, the city had 39.92 inches of precipitation, more than 7 inches below average.
Kodiak normally gets 78 inches of precipitation a year, and a majority of that — 68.9 inches — is snowfall.
Last month’s heavier-than-normal rains came after an unusually hot and dry June and July. National Weather Service officials say June was the warmest on record since 1953. In July, the temperature topped 70 degrees for 10 straight days, and only 1 inch of rain fell the entire month.
The unusually warm weather isn’t expected to last, however. The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center says there is a 40 percent chance that temperatures across south-central Alaska will be below normal for the rest of the year.
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