Barter Island
70°07′05″N 143°40′00″W / 70.11806°N 143.66667°W
Barter Island is an island located on the Arctic coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, east of Arey Island in the Beaufort Sea.[1] It is about four miles (6 km) long and about two miles (3 km) wide at its widest point.
Until the late 19th century, Barter Island was a major trade center for the
At one time before about 1900, there had been a large whaling village on Barter Island. Tradition has it that the Alaska Inupiat drove the villagers, Canadian Inupiat, from the island in about 1900.
In about 1919, trader Tom Gordon and his wife, Mary Agiaq Gordon, moved from
DEW Line (Distant Early Warning)
Starting in March 1953, a runway and
Modern history
Several families settled near the runway and the area around the runway was incorporated in 1971 as the City of Kaktovik.
In 1970 3 sounding rockets of Nike-Tomahawk type were launched there for high-altitude research.[2]
Climate
Barter Island has a tundra climate (Köppen: ETf), with long winters and warm but short summer days.
Climate data for Barter Island WSO airport (1961–1990 normals, extremes 1947–present) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °F (°C) | 39 (4) |
37 (3) |
36 (2) |
43 (6) |
52 (11) |
68 (20) |
78 (26) |
72 (22) |
66 (19) |
49 (9) |
41 (5) |
37 (3) |
78 (26) |
Mean maximum °F (°C) | 19.7 (−6.8) |
13.2 (−10.4) |
14.0 (−10.0) |
27.3 (−2.6) |
40.6 (4.8) |
54.6 (12.6) |
63.6 (17.6) |
60.0 (15.6) |
50.0 (10.0) |
34.1 (1.2) |
23.9 (−4.5) |
22.4 (−5.3) |
65.5 (18.6) |
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | −7.4 (−21.9) |
−12.9 (−24.9) |
−8.7 (−22.6) |
6.3 (−14.3) |
25.9 (−3.4) |
38.5 (3.6) |
44.8 (7.1) |
43.3 (6.3) |
35.0 (1.7) |
19.5 (−6.9) |
4.1 (−15.5) |
−4.7 (−20.4) |
15.4 (−9.2) |
Daily mean °F (°C) | −12.5 (−24.7) |
−19.7 (−28.7) |
−16.1 (−26.7) |
−2.0 (−18.9) |
20.9 (−6.2) |
34.5 (1.4) |
40.0 (4.4) |
38.8 (3.8) |
31.5 (−0.3) |
14.3 (−9.8) |
−1.6 (−18.7) |
−11.6 (−24.2) |
9.7 (−12.4) |
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | −19.8 (−28.8) |
−25.3 (−31.8) |
−22.4 (−30.2) |
−9.2 (−22.9) |
14.9 (−9.5) |
30.0 (−1.1) |
34.4 (1.3) |
33.8 (1.0) |
27.2 (−2.7) |
9.5 (−12.5) |
−7.2 (−21.8) |
−17.5 (−27.5) |
4.1 (−15.5) |
Mean minimum °F (°C) | −39.3 (−39.6) |
−45.3 (−42.9) |
−40.6 (−40.3) |
−30.7 (−34.8) |
−1.6 (−18.7) |
23.6 (−4.7) |
28.8 (−1.8) |
27.3 (−2.6) |
16.3 (−8.7) |
−11.1 (−23.9) |
−27.9 (−33.3) |
−38.3 (−39.1) |
−48.5 (−44.7) |
Record low °F (°C) | −54 (−48) |
−59 (−51) |
−51 (−46) |
−44 (−42) |
−16 (−27) |
9 (−13) |
24 (−4) |
20 (−7) |
4 (−16) |
−26 (−32) |
−51 (−46) |
−51 (−46) |
−59 (−51) |
Average precipitation inches (mm) | 0.37 (9.4) |
0.20 (5.1) |
0.23 (5.8) |
0.19 (4.8) |
0.28 (7.1) |
0.43 (11) |
0.95 (24) |
1.03 (26) |
0.69 (18) |
0.62 (16) |
0.38 (9.7) |
0.26 (6.6) |
5.62 (143) |
Average snowfall inches (cm) | 4.2 (11) |
2.2 (5.6) |
2.7 (6.9) |
2.4 (6.1) |
2.8 (7.1) |
1.6 (4.1) |
0.5 (1.3) |
1.6 (4.1) |
4.6 (12) |
8.8 (22) |
5.1 (13) |
3.5 (8.9) |
40.0 (102) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 inch) | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.9 | 5.4 | 5.3 | 8.0 | 11.8 | 9.7 | 11.8 | 7.1 | 5.3 | 82.6 |
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 inch) | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 6.0 | 11.8 | 7.2 | 5.8 | 61.2 |
Source 1: WRCC[3] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: XMACIS (snowfall)[4] |
Demographics
See Kaktovik.
References
- ^ "Barter Island". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
- ^ Barter Island page at Encyclopedia Astronautica
- ^ "1961-1990 Monthly Climate Summary, BARTER ISLAND WSO AP, ALASKA (500558)". Western Regional Climate Center. Archived from the original on 2024-01-27. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
- ^ XMACIS