Alaska hits earliest 70-degree readings on record

Parts of Alaska had their earliest 70-degree ratings on record this month as the Last Frontier continues to see record warming.

Klawock, a town in southeastern Alaska, reached 70 degrees Fahrenheit on March 19, the state’s earliest reading ever to reach that temperature, according to CNN.

Temperatures are reaching as high as 50 degrees above normal this weekend in what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) declares the nation’s fastest-warming state.

{mosads}Klawock beat out Northeastern cities such as Boston for its first 70-degree reading, CNN reported.

The NOAA data reviewed by the network reveals that Alaska has tied or broken 55 record daily highs since the beginning of the month through March 23.

Anchorage, Alaska’s most populous city, is expecting to hit a high of 46 degrees on Saturday, beating out cities as far south as Oklahoma. It also had no snow on record for the entire month for only the second time on record.

The story is the same across much of Alaska, with Kotzebue, which is north of the Arctic Circle, setting or tying record high minimum temperatures nine times in March, CNN noted.

March will be the 29th month since January 2013 to rank in the warmest 10 percent since 1925. April 2013 was the only time since 1925 that Alaska reached the coldest 10 percent.

This is startling: for Alaska as a whole, March is going to be the 29th month since Jan 2013 to be ranked in the warmest ten percent since 1925. That’s 39% of months. In the same period, one month, April 2013, ranks in the coldest 10%. #akwx #Arctic @Climatologist49 @IARC_Alaska pic.twitter.com/VucrVBvJT5

— Rick Thoman (@AlaskaWx) March 27, 2019