Day 8 of Nome, AK (PAOM)

 What a wild ride in Nome over the past 12-18 hours. Winds calmed down with clear skies early in the night, causing it to drop to 2F right before 06z but then a burst of northwesterly wind (max of 15 kt but counted as day 6 since that was before midnight local time) led to a rapid rise to 23F by 06z! In the dark winter months, there's a huge temperature contrast between the snow-covered land and Bering Sea, in addition to a sharp inversion, so wind bursts or shifts lead to erratic jumps.There was also a little snow with the wind burst, with 0.01” falling just after 06z. After midnight local time, the max wind was 13 kt, at least so far. The clouds and stiff wind prevented much cooling afterward for a while, but then it cleared and wind calmed down, leading to a rapid cooldown to 0F by 19z, and then low-level clouds came in and warmed it up to 10F by before 20z.

 

For day 8, the ups and downs will likely not be as dizzying, but there will still be a large, perhaps more gradual swing. Winds will be light with clear skies from 06z to 15z, leading to good radiational cooling and temperatures likely much colder than most models given the station’s history. After 15z, southerly winds with associated strong warm advection will pick up and low to mid-level clouds will increase, leading to a rapid warmup accompanied by some snow. The winds will likely peak at the very end (Saturday 09z), with temperatures leveling off near freezing (good model agreement on this) after 00z, heavily influenced by the near-freezing sea ice or pockets of open water in the Bering Sea.

 

Source: NWS

Source: PivotalWeather

Source: Meteogram Generator