Alaska News

Rainiest 60-day span in over a half-century soaked Anchorage in June-July

Anchorage recorded its second-rainiest 60-day period since 1952 from June 1 through July 30, falling only a handful of raindrops short of the 1958 record, the National Weather Service says.

A total of 6.56 inches of rain drenched Anchorage in a series of storms interspersed with sunny days starting June 1. Thunder and lightning even made a showing.

For much of June and July, rainfall totals from 1958 and 2014 were close. On July 27, the weather service dubbed 2014 the wettest in Anchorage from June 1 through July 26. But a late-July storm in 1958 kept it ahead of 2014 by July 30 at 6.61 inches.

Official rainfall observations for Anchorage have been made at the international airport since 1952.

Anchorage had its second wettest June and 10th wettest July this year -- perhaps good for outdoor recreation but not for record-setting.

"A bridesmaid, not a bride," Michael Kutz, a weather service meteorologist, said of 2014. "(In) July, we dropped the ball."

Tegan Hanlon

Tegan Hanlon was a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News between 2013 and 2019. She now reports for Alaska Public Media.

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