The Weather

It is the coldest, wettest summer in recent Alaska history.  It follows an extremely snowy winter.  Most of the peaks still show plenty of snow.  In fact in several parks, marked hiking trails are buried in snow.  It is how you typically picture Alaska.  However, it isn’t the normal weather pattern for summer.  There is always some rain.  After all significant portions of Alaska are a temperate rain forest.  This summer the rainfall and the cool temps exceed the norms.

We’ve been lucky overall.  In Juneau no rain fell on our whale adventure or our hike to Mendenhall.  In Skagway it rained in the town, but when we drove out into the Yukon it was actually sunny.  It’s helped by the fact that sections of the Yukon are a desert.  Today, in Glacier Bay, when we were near the ice fields, the clouds broke apart and permitted a bit of scattered sun with no rain. 

We are hoping to keep this streak going tomorrow in Ketchikan.  The likelihood is low.  Ketchikan annually records hundreds of inches of rain.  That doesn’t bode well.  Neither does the barometer which is falling.  Our plan is to go ocean Kayaking.  A light drizzle is manageable.  The company which is guiding us provides weather gear.  However, downpours or a choppy sea will create a need for plan B.  We will see what tomorrow brings. 

It isn't an impediment as the pictures show, including today's.  Just scroll down.

The forecast for Friday, in Victoria, is for sunshine.