Hot Alaska: 2016 and More Record Warmth

2016 was the third consecutive year of remarkable warmth in Alaska, with 2016 featuring even more persistent warmth than 2014 or 2015. The winter of 2015-16 was especially mild and in some areas exceptionally dry. The impacts of the mild winter continued into the spring, early snow pack melt out and river breakup. The wildfire season got off to an early start  but was nothing like 2015 due to a lack of a convective burst early in the summer. The warmth continued into the second half of the year even as El Niño faded away. Since June 2013 Alaska has been on an unprecedented run of mild weather resulting in the highest multi-year mean temperatures in the instrumental era.