According to one climatologist, the average temperature of almost 46° (Fahrenheit) for the month broke the previous record from more than 35 years ago.
Rick Thoman, climatologist with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP), saysthe prior May record for Nome was set in May of 1983 with an average temperature of about 42.8°.
Thoman also notes that in recent years, May in Nome typically ends up 4° warmer than prior Mays from the 1930s.
Considering Nome’s more than 100 years of climate data, the fact that it is setting some records is really quite remarkable, and one can tie a lot of it to changing sea ice and the warming Bering Seas, as well as the larger global scale warming.
According to Thoman and NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, Nome will more than likely experience a warmer than usual June this summer.