Noatak, Alaska

... Record high temperature in Nome...

At 1029 this morning the temperature in Nome rose to
42 degrees... breaking the old record for this date of
40 degrees set back in 1969. The all time record high
for the entire month of dembember is 43 degrees... set
on December 20 1969. Warmer than normal temperatures
will continue for tomorrow as well.

... Extreme temperature inversions continue to form over the interior...

Strong high pressure continues to build over much of the
state. Sinking air underneath this high will keep skies clear
until the ridge breaks down this weekend... and as air sinks
it compresses and warms bringing record warm temperatures to
the mid to lower levels.

Clear skies along with a low sun angle will cause unchecked
radiative cooling at the surface... slowly dropping temperatures
to near 15 below tonight and to 25 below in many low spots by
Thursday night..in addition to to the cooling at the
surface... record warm air at mid levels will keep higher
elevations above freezing in many areas.

Some Sample temperatures from around the interior at 5 am this
morning...

Chena river at Fort Wainwright 454 ft elevation... ... .5 below
Ester Dome 2323 ft elevation (and 14 miles to the west of
                                  fort wainwright)... 40 above

At Denali park at 1800 ft elevation... ... ... ... 2 above
eielson visitor center at 2720 ft elevation... 42 above

Birch Creek station at 1975 ft elevation... ... ... ... ... ... 1 below
Eagle Summit at 3650 ft (30 miles west of birch creek)... 36 above

Jim river dot Camp at 850 ft elevation... 7 below
Gobblers Knob at 2030 ft elevation... ... .32 above


Temperature inversions will only become stronger as the week progresses.
However... cooler air is expected to move in from Canada this weekend
and drop temperatures at higher elevations this will weaken the
temperature inversions a bit by next week.