Fairbanks recorded a high temperature of 82 degrees Sunday. The official reading at the airport was just two degrees shy of the daily record of 84 degrees, set on May 10th 1995.
The near record heat, combined with low relative humidity, winds and dead grasses and vegetation, are making for dangerous wildfire conditions.
It’s also rapidly melting off this past season’s above normal snowpack from higher elevations, and that’s swelling rivers across the region. Flood watches are in effect for some Central and Eastern Interior rivers, where in some cases high water is causing flooding in low lying areas, and preventing boats from getting under bridges.
High water on Dietrich River has closed the Dalton Highway at Mile 206.
The National Weather Service declared green up Sunday in Fairbanks. The subjective determination is based on observation of tree buds opening on the Chena Ridge, as viewed from National Weather Service headquarters on the University of Alaska Fairbanks West Ridge.