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Shaded-relief map of North Lakes, Alaska: rivers, roads, the city limits and where the water drains.
ALASKA · MATANUSKA-SUSITNA BOROUGH

North Lakes

9,450 people, 460 ft above sea level in Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

460 ftElevation, city center
9,450People, 2024 estimate
15 sq miLand area
Sunny 21°
Sunny now Dew point 17° · N 3 mph · high 27°
City of North Lakes River Interstate 1 miles
Explore the plate Order a print

The North Lakes plate. Relief from Copernicus GLO-30; rivers and lakes from USGS NHD; watersheds from the USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset; roads and city limits from Census TIGER 2024.

MILE1
TODAY

Today in North Lakes

NWS forecast and National Blend of Models · updated 11:00 AM AKST
RIGHT NOW Palmer Municipal Airport (PAAQ) · 11:53 AM
Sunny
21° Sunny Feels like 16° · high of 27° near 5 PM
WindN 3 mphno gusts
Humidity84%falling to 68% this afternoon
Pressure29.27 in →steady
Visibility10 mihaze-free
CloudsClear
UV index0none after dark
Dew point 17° · Dryabout the same for three days
DryComfortableStickyMuggyOppressive
NEXT RAIN
Rain
Tonight, about 10 PMin about 10 hours · 48% chance · rain
LIKELY AMOUNT—amounts come within 3 days
LAST RAINNov. 100.31 in · 4 dry days
ALERTS & OUTLOOKS
! Dense Fog AdvisoryDense Fog Advisory issued November 14 at 12:03PM AKST until November 14 at 6:00PM AKST by NWS Anchorage AK
NWS Anchorage and the Storm Prediction Center · checked 12:15 PM
SUN & MOON
↑ 9:03 AM4:20 PM ↓
7 h 16 m of daylight, 5 minutes less than yesterday
Waxing crescent, 25% lit. Next full moon: Nov. 24.
AIR & POLLEN
51
MODERATEAir quality index · fine particles
No pollen source yet.

The next three days, hour by hour

Sky: clear, cloudy, night Rain likely National Blend of Models
SATURDAY, NOV. 14
SUNDAY, NOV. 15
MONDAY, NOV. 16
TUESDAY, NOV. 17
Noon
3p
6p
9p
Mid
3a
6a
9a
Noon
3p
6p
9p
Mid
3a
6a
9a
Noon
3p
6p
9p
Mid
3a
6a
9a
mostly cloudy day
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
rain
mostly cloudy night
rain
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy day
mostly cloudy day
rain
rain
mostly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy day
mostly cloudy day
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy day
TEMPERATURE °F
24°
22°
29°
30°
33°
27°
CHANCE OF RAIN
78% · 0.04 in Sunday overnight 50%
WIND, MPH
0
0
0
2
3
5
3
2
3
4
6
7
11
11
10
8
7
6
6
4
3
3
2
0
HOW IT FEELS · DEW POINT
Dry: dew points 18 to 25°

The next seven days, and how sure we are

Forecast, with the range 8 in 10 ensemble members agree on Normal, about 28° / 15°
SAT Nov. 14 Chance of showers Chance of showers
27° 20°
50% rain — N 0 A
SUN Nov. 15 Showers likely Showers likely
30° 25°
80% rain — ENE 3 C
MON Nov. 16 Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
36° 26°
0% rain — ENE 7 C
TUE Nov. 17 Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
34° 23°
10% rain — ENE 5 B
WED Nov. 18 Chance of showers Chance of showers
37° 31°
40% rain up to 0.09″ ENE 21, gusts 30 B
THU Nov. 19 Showers likely Showers likely
38° 25°
60% rain up to 0.4″ ENE 13 B
FRI Nov. 20 Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
32° 22°
30% rain — ENE 1 C
How sure are we? AModels agree: highs within 4° BSome spread: within 8° CWide spread: check back
Range from the National Blend of Models percentiles · graded on Forecast Scores
AIR MAIL

Where today’s air came from

The air arriving over North Lakes about 5,000 feet above the ground was over the Gulf of Alaska three days ago, and over southcentral Alaska a day ago, about 290 miles back along its path. The nine paths traced from around the city fan out, so treat that as a best guess. It came down from about 11,500 feet up, warming and drying as it sank. Near the ground the air came from the Gulf of Alaska; at 10,000 feet, from a point about 7,360 miles to the east. It feels dry all the same. Traced back 72 hours through NOAA’s hourly RAP analyses and the GFS beyond them, nine paths at each of three heights.

THIS WEEK IN 2014 Nov. 12, 2014

The hottest this week has been

52° on Nov. 12, 2014, the hottest reading for this week of the year since 1917. Next is 51° in 1964.

51°
52°
19642014
Source: NOAA RCC-ACIS, the Matanuska Experimental Farm record since 1917.
MILE2
THE GROUND

What North Lakes stands on

North Lakes’s center stands about 460 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 240 ft to 650 ft, a difference of 410 ft: hilly country. The highest named summit within 15 miles is Pioneer Peak, about 6,180 ft, 14 miles southeast.

North Lakes, cut in half from south to north

A section south to north, 24 miles through the town center
0 ft2,000 ft4,000 ft NORTH LAKES460 ftLow point10 ftSouth Lakes340 ftLittle Susitna Riverabout 610 ftFishhook3,950 ftBullion Mountain5,060 ft ← SN →

Heights every 0.1 mile from the Copernicus GLO-90 surface model; vertical exaggeration about 4×.

Heights from Copernicus GLO-90 (a surface model: it includes buildings and tree canopy); summits from USGS GNIS; rivers from USGS NHDPlus HR.
MILE5
THE ALMANAC

North Lakes’s year

1991–2020 normals · records since 1917 · Matanuska Experimental Farm, 4 mi south-southeast

North Lakes has a dry-summer subarctic climate. Summer afternoons average 68° in July; winter nights fall to about 7° in January. A normal year brings about 50 inches of snow; with the rain, that comes to about 14 inches of water.

23°7°29°12°34°16°48°29°59°38°66°46°68°51°65°48°57°40°43°27°29°14°25°10° JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDEC 1234 TODAY NORTH LAKES 14.4 in rain and snowmelt
Normal high to low, by month Record high to low, by day Rain by month Freezing
July, average68° / 51°high / low, the warmest month
January, average23° / 7°high / low, the coldest month
Rain and melted snow14.4 inwettest months: August and September
Snow a year49.5 insnowiest: December
Hottest on record91°FJune 17, 1936
Coldest on record−41°FFebruary 5, 1999
Wettest day on record2.48 inSeptember 9, 1925
Snowiest day on record18.0 inNovember 19, 1964
Nights at or below 32°193and 95 days that stay below freezing
Climate typeDry-summer subarcticKöppen Dsc

AROUND THE RING

1Freeze seasonfrom the first fall freeze, about Sept. 22, to the last in spring, about May 17 (median dates)
2Highs below freezingNov. 5 to March 10; normal highs stay below 32°
3Lows below freezingOct. 7 to April 24; normal lows fall below 32°
4Wettest stretchJuly through September: 6.7 of the year’s 14.4 inches
NOVEMBER 14 IN THE RECORD

On November 14 North Lakes normally reaches 29° and falls to 14°. The record high is 47°, in 2000; the record low −13°, in 1918. The most rain on this date, 0.26 in, fell in 2022.

MONTH BY MONTH
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Normal high23°29°34°48°59°66°68°65°57°43°29°25°
Normal low7°12°16°29°38°46°51°48°40°27°14°10°
Rain and melt, in0.810.780.520.350.721.221.922.482.321.390.841.02
Snow, inches9.29.07.61.40.50.00.00.00.03.88.19.9
Record high57° (2014)56° (2007)65° (1934)73° (2005)83° (1947)91° (1936)88° (2019)87° (1968)75° (1957)69° (1923)58° (1936)55° (1934)
Record low−40° (1989)−41° (1999)−30° (1956)−16° (1944)8° (1945)27° (1947)31° (1934)27° (1947)15° (1992)−11° (1982)−26° (1990)−37° (1964)

Normals 1991–2020 and records since 1917 at Matanuska Experimental Farm, 4 miles south-southeast, 290 ft lower. NOAA, through RCC-ACIS.
MILE7
ON THE NETWORK

Around North Lakes on the Forecast Network

Neighboring plates

Knik-Fairview AK · 13 MI 13 miles southwest Anchorage AK · 31 MI 31 miles south
FORECASTCITY
Map of North Lakes, Alaska. Explore the plate
ALASKA · MATANUSKA-SUSITNA

North Lakes

9,450 people, 460 ft above sea level in Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

460 ftElevation
9,450People
15 sq miLand
Sunny 21°
SunnyDew point 17°
1

Today in North Lakes

NEXT 15 HOURS
Now mostly cloudy day 24° 0%
3p mostly cloudy day 26° 0%
6p mostly cloudy night 27° 0%
9p overcast 25° 24%
12a overcast 24° 27%
3a rain 24° 35%
Rain
NEXT RAINTonight about 10 PM · 48%
→
Sat50%
Chance of showers Chance of showers
20
27
A
Sun80%
Showers likely Showers likely
25
30
C
Mon0%
Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
26
36
C
Tue10%
Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
23
34
B
Wed40%
Chance of showers Chance of showers
31
37
B
Thu60%
Showers likely Showers likely
25
38
B
Fri30%
Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
22
32
C
Letters show how sure the forecast is: A, models agree; B, some spread; C, check back. Sample data.
THIS WEEK IN 2014 · NOV. 12, 2014

52°, the hottest this week of the year has been since 1917.

2

What North Lakes stands on

North Lakes’s center stands about 460 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 240 ft to 650 ft, a difference of 410 ft: hilly country. The highest named summit within 15 miles is Pioneer Peak, about 6,180 ft, 14 miles southeast.

North Lakes, south to north North Lakes460 ftLittle Susitna Riverabout 610 ft ← SN → 24 miles through the town center; vertical exaggeration about 8×.
Elevation, center460 ft
Within 3 miles240 to 650 ft
Lie of the landHilly (410 ft of relief)
High point nearbyPioneer Peak, 6,180 ft, 14 mi southeast
5

North Lakes’s year

North Lakes has a dry-summer subarctic climate. Summer afternoons average 68° in July; winter nights fall to about 7° in January. A normal year brings about 50 inches of snow; with the rain, that comes to about 14 inches of water.

JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDEC 1234 14.4 in
July, average68° / 51° · high / low, the warmest month
January, average23° / 7° · high / low, the coldest month
Rain and melted snow14.4 in · wettest months: August and September
Snow a year49.5 in · snowiest: December
Hottest on record91°F · June 17, 1936
Coldest on record−41°F · February 5, 1999
Wettest day on record2.48 in · September 9, 1925
Snowiest day on record18.0 in · November 19, 1964
Nights at or below 32°193 · and 95 days that stay below freezing
Climate typeDry-summer subarctic · Köppen Dsc
1Freeze season · from the first fall freeze, about Sept. 22, to the last in spring, about May 17 (median dates)
2Highs below freezing · Nov. 5 to March 10; normal highs stay below 32°
3Lows below freezing · Oct. 7 to April 24; normal lows fall below 32°
4Wettest stretch · July through September: 6.7 of the year’s 14.4 inches
NOVEMBER 14 IN THE RECORD

On November 14 North Lakes normally reaches 29° and falls to 14°. The record high is 47°, in 2000; the record low −13°, in 1918. The most rain on this date, 0.26 in, fell in 2022.

Normals 1991–2020 and records since 1917 at Matanuska Experimental Farm, 4 miles south-southeast, 290 ft lower. NOAA, through RCC-ACIS.