Overview

Denali National Park and Preserve, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, and Yukon- Charley Rivers National Preserve make up the Central Alaska Inventory and Monitoring Network (CAKN), covering over 21 million acres. There are three major Alaska climate regimes within CAKN; a maritime climate, a transitional-maritime climate, and a continental interior climate. The defining features of the CAKN climate are large-scale general circulation patterns, storm tracks, and prevailing winds. The main geographic features affecting the patterns of climate are terrain and proximity to the coast. The Chugach, Wrangell, St. Elias, and Alaska Mountain Ranges are terrain barriers which block the major flow pattern off of the Gulf of Alaska. The amount of precipitation decreases and the seasonal temperatures become much more variable as you move away from the coast along the southern portions of Wrangell-St. Elias into the interior of Alaska. Another major climatic factor of these mountain ranges is cold air drainage and pooling in valleys and depressions that often causes persistent winter inversions in interior Alaska.

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9781491085226

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