Wild Weather
Summer 2004

We thought that with all the snow, as well as good rains in May, we'd have less fire danger in the summer than normal. Not so! May ended and the rain stopped, for the whole summer. From the beginning of June to the last week in August, we had just 2" of rain! On June 14, there were 8,500 lightning strikes in the state, an all-time record that set the state afire. The record fell July 15, as 9,022 lightning strikes ignited 11 new fires. The fires burned almost 6.5 million acres, topping the old record by 1.5 million. Sticky smoke filled the summer sky. Fourth of July weekend, the smoke was so dense at Swede Lake (100 miles south of the nearest fire), that we canceled a planned trip for us and several friends. We stayed home and enjoyed a real Fourth of July light show! Lightning hit a pond just across the street from us and ripped the sky apart all over Anchorage.

Summer was HOT! 6° to 10° above average. In August, there were 21 days that the temperature topped 70°, shattering record after record. I remember the first several years I lived in Alaska, it never got above 70°! The heat contributed to an algae bloom in Swede Lake that turned the whole lake a sickening pea green. The beavers helped, too, by damming up the outlet stream, raising the level of the lake, and blocking off the salmon run.

Summer ended and the rains finally came. 9.7" of rain in September alone, the second most of any month in recorded Alaska history!

Then came snow. On November 3, it was warm and snowing heavily. Not a single vehicle that tried to make it up the hill opposite our driveway did. Vehicles did ballet twirls down the hill, completely out of control! Several people got away with no damage, but then the crashes started, culminating with a three-car pileup in our driveway (no photos because I couldn't get through the pileup for the camera). It was like bumper cars. Incredibly, our mailbox was spared, for the moment. Since then our fence and mailbox have both been knocked down. All that melted, and January ended with only inches on the ground!