No record but July still really wet

Tourists were often wearing rain gear and carrying umbrellas this month. (Photo by Matt Miller/KTOO)
Tourists were often wearing rain gear and carrying umbrellas this month. (Photo by Matt Miller/KTOO)

Juneau didn’t break the record for rainiest July, but the capital city still got almost double the amount of rain it normally does.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Juneau airport had gotten 8.26 inches. July rainfall usually averages just over four and a half inches.

In contrast, this month’s temperatures were pretty normal, with an average of around 58 degrees.

The National Weather Service and Climate Prediction Center had forecasted a warmer and drier than normal July.

As National Weather Service meteorologist Tim Steffen explains, that didn’t happen.

“The weather pattern got kind of locked in place with the large low pressure system in the Gulf of Alaska and that kept winds blowing in off the water which is a more moist and wet wind regime for us, instead of getting a large high pressure system over us and the winds blowing from Canada, which is a lot drier,” Steffen says.

1997 saw the wettest July with 10.36 inches of rain. Steffen says this July will be the second wettest on record.

But the rest of the week looks dry and warm.

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