56°23′30″N 134°39′23″W / 56.39167°N 134.65639°W / 56.39167; -134.65639 Port Walter is located on the southeastern side of Baranof Island in Sitka City and Borough, Alaska. It is made up of two parts: Little Port Walter and Big Port Walter.

Little Port Walter was the home of a herring saltery during the turn on the century and the ruins can still be seen. Little Port Walter had a small community at one time but has been replaced by a research station that studies the life cycles of several species of Salmon. There is a staff of 3–15 state and federal employees running the research station year-round. There is a dock, and the harbor itself is a safe anchorage. [1] [2]

Climate

Little Port Walter has an oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) that borders a subpolar oceanic climate (Cfc), with only four months having average temperatures above 50 °F or 10 °C. It receives an average annual precipitation of over 226 inches or 5,700 millimetres[3][4] and as such is the wettest permanent settlement in the United States and among the wettest in the world with lengthy climate records. As many as seventy-eight days per year see over 1 in (25 mm) of rain and/or snowfall per year,[5] while in October 1974 69.23 in (1,758.4 mm) of rain fell and in January 1985 61.67 in (1,566.4 mm). The record daily precipitation was 14.84 in (376.9 mm) on 6 December 1964. The driest month was February 1989 with 0.63 in (16.0 mm), while the hottest day on record was August 12 of 1990 with 88 °F (31.1 °C) and the coldest January 2 of 1966 with 0 °F (−17.8 °C) overnight. The heaviest snowfall in a month was 94.2 in (2.39 m) in December 2001.

Climate data for Little Port Walter, Alaska (1991–2020 normals,[6] extremes 1936–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 59
(15)		 58
(14)		 58
(14)		 67
(19)		 72
(22)		 80
(27)		 79
(26)		 88
(31)		 73
(23)		 61
(16)		 57
(14)		 55
(13)		 88
(31)
Mean maximum °F (°C) 48.1
(8.9)		 47.8
(8.8)		 48.9
(9.4)		 55.7
(13.2)		 64.8
(18.2)		 70.2
(21.2)		 71.0
(21.7)		 70.5
(21.4)		 63.9
(17.7)		 56.7
(13.7)		 51.5
(10.8)		 48.1
(8.9)		 74.2
(23.4)
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) 37.9
(3.3)		 38.9
(3.8)		 40.8
(4.9)		 46.7
(8.2)		 53.8
(12.1)		 58.3
(14.6)		 61.3
(16.3)		 61.3
(16.3)		 56.3
(13.5)		 49.2
(9.6)		 42.5
(5.8)		 38.9
(3.8)		 48.8
(9.3)
Daily mean °F (°C) 34.4
(1.3)		 35.1
(1.7)		 36.3
(2.4)		 41.2
(5.1)		 47.3
(8.5)		 52.4
(11.3)		 55.8
(13.2)		 55.9
(13.3)		 51.7
(10.9)		 45.0
(7.2)		 38.7
(3.7)		 35.6
(2.0)		 44.1
(6.7)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) 30.9
(−0.6)		 31.3
(−0.4)		 31.9
(−0.1)		 35.8
(2.1)		 40.8
(4.9)		 46.4
(8.0)		 50.4
(10.2)		 50.5
(10.3)		 47.0
(8.3)		 40.8
(4.9)		 35.0
(1.7)		 32.3
(0.2)		 39.4
(4.1)
Mean minimum °F (°C) 19.3
(−7.1)		 20.7
(−6.3)		 21.2
(−6.0)		 27.5
(−2.5)		 32.7
(0.4)		 38.6
(3.7)		 42.8
(6.0)		 43.1
(6.2)		 37.9
(3.3)		 30.6
(−0.8)		 24.5
(−4.2)		 21.8
(−5.7)		 13.8
(−10.1)
Record low °F (°C) 0
(−18)		 3
(−16)		 5
(−15)		 18
(−8)		 24
(−4)		 32
(0)		 34
(1)		 35
(2)		 26
(−3)		 23
(−5)		 4
(−16)		 4
(−16)		 0
(−18)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 27.97
(710)		 18.93
(481)		 18.11
(460)		 14.65
(372)		 12.23
(311)		 7.85
(199)		 10.37
(263)		 16.74
(425)		 25.72
(653)		 31.61
(803)		 29.39
(747)		 32.15
(817)		 245.72
(6,241)
Average snowfall inches (cm) 28.0
(71)		 19.7
(50)		 20.1
(51)		 1.7
(4.3)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.4
(1.0)		 10.3
(26)		 21.6
(55)		 101.8
(259)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) 24.2 19.6 20.7 18.8 15.0 14.8 15.0 16.7 21.3 24.1 24.4 24.6 239.2
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) 8.0 6.0 6.8 1.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 3.4 7.1 32.8
Source 1: NOAA[7]
Source 2: National Weather Service[8]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
194021—
U.S. Decennial Census[9]

Port Walter appeared once on the 1940 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village of 21 residents. This was actually referring to "Big Port Walter."[10] It has not reported again on the census, and was later annexed into Sitka.

References

  1. ↑ "Little Port Walter Facility". United States of America, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Alaska Fisheries Science Center.
  2. ↑ "Little Port Walter Field Station". United States of America, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Alaska Fisheries Science Center.
  3. ↑ "Climate at Little Port Walter". Alaska Climate Research Center, Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
  4. ↑ "SouthEast Alaska Frequently Asked Questions, Precipitation at Little Port Walter". United States Department of Agriculture, United States Forest Service. Archived from the original on 2011-08-17. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
  5. ↑ General Precipitation Tables for Little Port Walter
  6. ↑ Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the highest and lowest temperature readings during an entire month or year) calculated based on data at said location from 1991 to 2020.
  7. ↑ "U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access – Station: Little Port Walter, AK". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  8. ↑ "NOAA Online Weather Data – NWS Juneau". National Weather Service. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  9. ↑ "U.S. Decennial Census". Census.gov. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Geological Survey Professional Paper". 1949.
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