STORM2K

Mostly dry weather and record warmth prevailed across much of eastern Alaska, while near-normal temperatures and scattered showers overspread western parts of the State. Weekly temperatures averaged more than 10 degrees F above normal at some locations in east-central Alaska, where June wildfires burned more than 500,000 acres of vegetation. By June 27, both the Taylor Complex (35 miles northwest of Tok) and the Solstice Complex (more than 50 miles northwest of Fort Yukon) topped 200,000 acres. On June 20, Tok's high of 95 degrees F came within 1 degree of its all-time record of 96 degrees F, established on June 15, 1969. Elsewhere, June 1-27 precipitation totaled just 0.31 inch (25 percent of normal) in Fairbanks. Farther south, record warmth accompanied another drier-than-normal week in southeastern Alaska. High temperatures in Juneau reached or exceeded 80 degrees F on 8 consecutive days from June 18-25, doubling its previous record of 4 days in a row established most recently from June 19-22, 1990. In addition, Juneau set a record for the greatest number of 80-degree days in a year (previously, 7 days in 1951). June 1-27 precipitation totaled 1.30 inches (43 percent of normal) in Juneau, following its driest May on record (0.84 inch, or 24 percent). Farther south, the weather in Hawaii was characteristic of typical dry-season conditions, featuring scattered showers in mainly windward locations. However, sporadically heavy showers reached some leeward sites, especially on the Big Island, where 24-hour totals in Honaunau reached 1.68 inches on June 23-24 and 1.22 inches on June 26-27.