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Shaded-relief map of Wainwright, Alaska: rivers, roads, the city limits and where the water drains.
ALASKA · NORTH SLOPE BOROUGH

Wainwright

594 people, 17 ft above sea level in North Slope Borough.

17 ftElevation, city center
594People, 2024 estimate
10 sq miLand area
Sunny 13°
Sunny now Dew point 11° · ENE 29 mph · high 14°
City of Wainwright River Interstate 1 miles
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The Wainwright 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 Wainwright

NWS forecast and National Blend of Models · updated 2:00 PM AKST
RIGHT NOW Atqasuk (PATQ) · 2:56 PM
Sunny
13° Sunny Feels like -8° · high of 14° near 7 PM
WindENE 29 mphno gusts
Humidity92%rising to 88% by morning
Pressure29.79 in →steady
Visibility1 mifog or heavy haze
CloudsClear
UV index0none after dark
Dew point 11° · Dryabout the same for three days
DryComfortableStickyMuggyOppressive
NEXT RAIN
Snow
Tomorrow, about 5 AMin about 14 hours · 73% chance · rain
LIKELY AMOUNT0.03–0.1 inmost likely 0.09; 1 in 10 over 0.2
LAST RAIN—none in 31 days
ALERTS & OUTLOOKS
! Blizzard WarningBlizzard Warning issued November 14 at 9:54AM AKST until November 15 at 12:00PM AKST by NWS Fairbanks AK
! Winter Weather AdvisoryWinter Weather Advisory issued November 14 at 9:54AM AKST until November 15 at 3:00AM AKST by NWS Fairbanks AK
! Blizzard WarningBlizzard Warning issued November 14 at 9:54AM AKST until November 15 at 7:00AM AKST by NWS Fairbanks AK
NWS Fairbanks and the Storm Prediction Center · checked 3:17 PM
SUN & MOON
↑ 11:38 AM3:10 PM ↓
3 h 31 m of daylight, 14 minutes less than yesterday
Waxing crescent, 27% lit. Next full moon: Nov. 24.
AIR & POLLEN
—
Air quality index ·
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
3p
6p
9p
Mid
3a
6a
9a
Noon
3p
6p
9p
Mid
3a
6a
9a
Noon
3p
6p
9p
Mid
3a
6a
9a
Noon
windy
windy
fog
fog
fog
snow
fog
fog
rain
snow
snow
rain
overcast
windy
rain
rain
windy
windy
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy day
TEMPERATURE °F
13°
12°
14°
12°
15°
15°
CHANCE OF RAIN
73% · 0.05 in Sunday morning 50%
WIND, MPH
26
29
29
29
28
26
25
23
21
20
20
20
20
21
22
21
21
20
19
17
14
11
9
10
HOW IT FEELS · DEW POINT
Dry: dew points 8 to 12°

The next seven days, and how sure we are

Forecast, with the range 8 in 10 ensemble members agree on Normal, about 13° / 62°
SAT Nov. 14 Cloudy Cloudy
14° 10°
0% rain — E 28, gusts 41 A
SUN Nov. 15 Showers likely Showers likely
15° 10°
70% rain 0.03–0.1″ E 23, gusts 41 B
MON Nov. 16 Chance of showers Chance of showers
16° 12°
50% rain up to 0.05″ E 21, gusts 31 B
TUE Nov. 17 Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
18° 9°
30% rain — S 10 B
WED Nov. 18 Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
17° 10°
0% rain — E 22, gusts 33 B
THU Nov. 19 Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
20° 14°
10% rain — ESE 17, gusts 25 C
FRI Nov. 20 Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
22° 14°
10% rain — S 13 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 Wainwright about 5,000 feet above the ground was over the Arctic Ocean three days ago, and over interior Alaska a day ago, about 1,040 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 12,900 feet up, warming and drying as it sank. It has stayed over land, which is why it feels dry. Traced back 72 hours through NOAA’s hourly RAP analyses and the GFS beyond them, nine paths at each of three heights.

MILE2
THE GROUND

What Wainwright stands on

Wainwright’s center stands about 17 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 0 ft to 60 ft, a difference of 60 ft: gently rolling country. Open water lies within three miles.

Wainwright, cut in half from southwest to northeast

A section southwest to northeast, 24 miles through the town center
0 ft WAINWRIGHT17 ftHigh point of the line100 ft ← SWNE →

Heights every 0.1 mile from the Copernicus GLO-90 surface model; vertical exaggeration about 64×.

Heights from Copernicus GLO-90 (a surface model: it includes buildings and tree canopy); summits from USGS GNIS; rivers from USGS NHDPlus HR.
MILE7
ON THE NETWORK

Around Wainwright on the Forecast Network

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FORECASTCITY
Map of Wainwright, Alaska. Explore the plate
ALASKA · NORTH SLOPE

Wainwright

594 people, 17 ft above sea level in North Slope Borough.

17 ftElevation
594People
10 sq miLand
Sunny 13°
SunnyDew point 11°
1

Today in Wainwright

NEXT 15 HOURS
Now windy 13° 0%
6p windy 13° 0%
9p windy 13° 0%
12a fog 13° 0%
3a fog 12° 11%
6a snow 13° 59%
Snow
NEXT RAINTomorrow about 5 AM · 73%
→
Sat0%
Cloudy Cloudy
10
14
A
Sun70%
Showers likely Showers likely
10
15
B
Mon50%
Chance of showers Chance of showers
12
16
B
Tue30%
Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
9
18
B
Wed0%
Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
10
17
B
Thu10%
Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
14
20
C
Fri10%
Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
14
22
C
Letters show how sure the forecast is: A, models agree; B, some spread; C, check back. Sample data.
2

What Wainwright stands on

Wainwright’s center stands about 17 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 0 ft to 60 ft, a difference of 60 ft: gently rolling country. Open water lies within three miles.

Wainwright, southwest to northeast Wainwright17 ftHigh point100 ft ← SWNE → 24 miles through the town center; vertical exaggeration about 122×.
Elevation, center17 ft
Within 3 miles0 to 60 ft
Lie of the landGently rolling (60 ft of relief)