Hurricane Rick Weakens, Checking On Alaska

Once the second most powerful hurricane ever observed in the eastern Pacific, Hurricane Rick is no more.

The storm encountered conditions during that day on Monday that weakened it from a category 3 hurricane down to a strong Tropical Storm.


It is still expected to move in a northeast manner over the next 36 hours and give the southern Baja of California a glancing blow.

Meanwhile, let's look up toward Alaska and see what is happening right now. There are no signs of arctic air building which is good news.

We often look toward Alaska during the fall and winter months to see if large bubbles of cold air are in place. Many times these eventually break off and move south toward the lower 48.

We keep a very close eye on Alaska between December and February.

Right now, Alaska has been running above normal in terms of temperatures. Some places in the southeast US have been seeing weather similar to what has been observed in Fairbanks over recent days.

Things are cooling off in Fairbanks to more normal readings for late October, which means their highs will be in the upper 20s and lower 30s with lows in the teens.

Lately highs have been as high as the mid 50s if you can believe that!



The CoCoRaHS map for Monday, October 19, can be seen above. It was one of the most quiet national maps I have seen in quite some time.

Wet on the edges with a little bit of spotty precip here and there, such as across the inter-mountain west.

But other than that, dry for most observers.

That will change in the days ahead as a new storm system moves onshore in the west and enters the Rockies for mid-week!

My latest poll closed on Monday with 74 votes. The question was when do you think the first widespread arctic outbreak will sweep across the lower 48 states.

37% think before Halloween, 44% think during November and the rest say sometime in December.

A new poll is up so check it out!