Gulkana, Alaska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Gulkana's normal year runs from −12°F January nights to 69°F July afternoons, with 11.8 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of −2.1°C, January lows of −24°C, July highs of 21°C, 299 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationGulkana Airport
- Station IDUSW00026425
- Location62.16°N 145.46°W
- Elevation1,562 ft (476 m)
- Population (census place)73
On October 23, the normal high in Gulkana is 30°F and the normal low 13°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 28%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Gulkana.
- Jan 5° -12°
- Feb 16° -5°
- Mar 28° 1°
- Apr 44° 21°
- May 58° 33°
- Jun 67° 43°
- Jul 69° 47°
- Aug 65° 43°
- Sep 54° 33°
- Oct 36° 18°
- Nov 15° -1°
- Dec 8° -8°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Gulkana each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 69°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of −12°F. The most precipitation falls in August (1.91 in), the least in April (0.22 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°F | −12°F | -3.4°F | 0.73 | 8 | <1 | 31 | 6 h |
| February | 16°F | −5°F | 5.6°F | 0.65 | 7 | <1 | 28 | 8 h 50 min |
| March | 28°F | 1°F | 14.7°F | 0.34 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 11 h 40 min |
| April | 44°F | 21°F | 32.6°F | 0.22 | 3 | <1 | 28 | 14 h 40 min |
| May | 58°F | 33°F | 45.8°F | 0.76 | 7 | <1 | 15 | 17 h 40 min |
| June | 67°F | 43°F | 54.9°F | 1.36 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 19 h 40 min |
| July | 69°F | 47°F | 57.9°F | 1.74 | 13 | <1 | <1 | 18 h 50 min |
| August | 65°F | 43°F | 53.5°F | 1.91 | 13 | <1 | 3 | 16 h 10 min |
| September | 54°F | 33°F | 43.6°F | 1.42 | 11 | <1 | 14 | 13 h 10 min |
| October | 36°F | 18°F | 27.1°F | 1.00 | 9 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 10 min |
| November | 15°F | −1°F | 6.8°F | 0.85 | 8 | <1 | 30 | 7 h 10 min |
| December | 8°F | −8°F | -0.2°F | 0.78 | 8 | <1 | 31 | 5 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 39°F | 18°F | 28.3°F | 11.76 | 101 | <1 | 238 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −15°C | −24°C | −19.7°C | 19 mm |
| February | −9°C | −20°C | −14.7°C | 17 mm |
| March | −2°C | −17°C | −9.6°C | 9 mm |
| April | 7°C | −6°C | 0.3°C | 6 mm |
| May | 15°C | 1°C | 7.7°C | 19 mm |
| June | 20°C | 6°C | 12.7°C | 35 mm |
| July | 21°C | 8°C | 14.4°C | 44 mm |
| August | 18°C | 6°C | 11.9°C | 49 mm |
| September | 12°C | 1°C | 6.4°C | 36 mm |
| October | 2°C | −8°C | −2.7°C | 25 mm |
| November | −9°C | −19°C | −14.0°C | 22 mm |
| December | −13°C | −22°C | −17.9°C | 20 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station, and no record within 25 miles keeps one, so snow is left out here rather than estimated.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00026425; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
When is the best weather to visit Gulkana?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June and July. Of those, June has the fewest days with rain (11).
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00026425.
When is the last frost in Gulkana?
In Gulkana, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after June 7 in half of years and after July 5 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before August 21 in half of years and before August 8 in one year in ten.
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- June 71 year in 10 after July 5; 9 in 10 after May 24
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- August 211 year in 10 before August 8; 9 in 10 before September 3
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 73 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 105 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 19 in half of springs and before September 2 in half of autumns.
By the USDA's method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Gulkana's NOAA station is in plant hardiness zone 2b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −42°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Alaska · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00026425; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
How hot and how cold does it get in Gulkana?
In a normal year in Gulkana, a 90°F day is rare, 238 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 101 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 238a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 139high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 101a normal year
The highest temperature in Gulkana's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1909) is 97°F, on July 10, 1915; the lowest is −65°F, on February 3, 1947.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2022, with 22.26 in; the snowiest season is 1991–92, with 93.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00026425; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record GKNthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Gulkana, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 43°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 45°F; the driest air comes in December (−5°F). May is the windiest month (7.6 mph on average), and February has the most clear or nearly clear hours (39%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −4°F | 83% | 76% | 2.9 mph | 27% | 45% |
| February | 1°F | 69% | 56% | 4.5 mph | 39% | 30% |
| March | 12°F | 59% | 43% | 6.3 mph | 33% | 31% |
| April | 24°F | 54% | 36% | 7.2 mph | 27% | 32% |
| May | 34°F | 53% | 35% | 7.6 mph | 23% | 33% |
| June | 44°F | 61% | 43% | 6.6 mph | 21% | 32% |
| July | 45°F | 66% | 49% | 7.0 mph | 19% | 41% |
| August | 39°F | 70% | 50% | 6.7 mph | 21% | 42% |
| September | 29°F | 73% | 57% | 5.9 mph | 22% | 45% |
| October | 12°F | 81% | 74% | 3.7 mph | 24% | 46% |
| November | 0°F | 83% | 79% | 3.8 mph | 27% | 45% |
| December | −5°F | 84% | 81% | 3.1 mph | 29% | 41% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00026425. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is Gulkana?
Over a year 69% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Gulkana, 2.7 kWh per square metre a day. March is the sunniest month (80%) and November the cloudiest (59%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 63% | 0.3 |
| February | 68% | 1.0 |
| March | 80% | 2.7 |
| April | 79% | 4.5 |
| May | 71% | 5.2 |
| June | 66% | 5.4 |
| July | 65% | 4.9 |
| August | 66% | 3.9 |
| September | 65% | 2.5 |
| October | 61% | 1.1 |
| November | 59% | 0.3 |
| December | 64% | 0.1 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How much heating and cooling does Gulkana need?
A normal year in Gulkana brings 13,377 heating degree days, 2.5 times the median U.S. place (5,373), and 8 cooling degree days, 99% fewer than the median (908). Eleven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 578 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 2,119 | 0 |
| February | 1,663 | 0 |
| March | 1,559 | 0 |
| April | 972 | 0 |
| May | 595 | 0 |
| June | 306 | 3 |
| July | 224 | 4 |
| August | 356 | 1 |
| September | 641 | 0 |
| October | 1,175 | 0 |
| November | 1,746 | 0 |
| December | 2,021 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 13,377 | 8 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00026425. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
Has Gulkana been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 28.3°F, equal to the 1991-2020 normal of 28.3°F. 2 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26.4°F | −1.9°F | 13.15 |
| 2022 | 29.3°F | +1.0°F | 22.26 |
| 2023 | 29.6°F | +1.3°F | – |
| 2024 | 28.3°F | at normal | 12.63 |
Over 74 complete years from 1944 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.9°F per century (+0.22°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00026425; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Gulkana's climate compare?
Gulkana is warmer than 27 of the other 84 places with their own NOAA record in Alaska, and wetter than 10. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 28.3°F is warmer than 1%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Gulkana is Dsc: continental, dry-summer, cool summer. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Which places near Gulkana share this climate record?
2 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- Gakona, AK200 people · 15 mi N
- Chistochina, AK52 people · 34 mi NE
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about Gulkana's climate
What is the coldest month in Gulkana?
January, with a normal high of 5°F and a normal low of −12°F. The warmest is July (69°F by day, 47°F at night).
What is the rainiest month in Gulkana?
August, with 1.91 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is April with 0.22 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Gulkana in?
By the same method at Gulkana's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −42°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 2b.
How late can frost come in Gulkana?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after June 7; in one year in ten it comes after July 5. Waiting until July 5 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Gulkana in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Alaska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Gennallen Kcam, AK4 miles from this station, 27.1°F a year
- Tonsina, AK36 miles from this station, 27.6°F a year
- Lake Susitna, AK44 miles from this station, 26.3°F a year
- Paxson, AK60 miles from this station, 26.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made