The National Weather Service presented a webinar this week about Southeast Alaska’s drought.
Southeast Alaska is the kind of place where you can get a lot of rain but still be in the middle of a drought.
“Drought is one of those things that, it seems like, oh, everybody knows what a drought is,” National Weather Service climate scientist Rick Thoman said.
The deficiency level and the time period can vary, Thoman said.
Ketchikan, for example, received record rainfall levels in August.
“Starting in September, we see that precipitation in Ketchikan totaled a little over 11 inches,” Thoman said.
But by Ketchikan standards, that was actually below normal.” Normal in September is closer to 15-16 inches.
“October, again, over 11 inches of rain, but that’s well below normal in Ketchikan in October, followed by well-below normal precipitation in November, as well,” Thoman said.
All that means overall precipitation in Southeast Alaska since fall has been below normal.
“If Southeast Alaska doesn’t get that rain in that October, November and into December time frame, there could be deficits in water levels that may not be able to recover.” When hydroelectric dams don’t have enough water, communities need to use more-expensive diesel power.