Port Walter
{{coord|56|23|30|N|134|39|23|W|display=title}}
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 Little Port Walter had a small community at one time but has been replaced by a research station that studies the life cycles of several species of salmon.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.
| title = Little Port Walter Facility
| publisher = United States of America, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Alaska Fisheries Science Center
| url = http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/facilities/littleportwalter.htm
}}
| title = Little Port Walter Field Station
| publisher = United States of America, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Alaska Fisheries Science Center
| url = http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/abl/MarSalm/3lpw.html
}}
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 {{convert|50|F|disp=or}}. It receives an average annual precipitation of over {{convert|226|in|mm|-2|disp=or}}{{cite web
| title = Climate at Little Port Walter
| publisher = Alaska Climate Research Center, Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks
| url = http://climate.gi.alaska.edu/history/SouthEastern/Little.html
| title = SouthEast Alaska Frequently Asked Questions, Precipitation at Little Port Walter
| publisher = United States Department of Agriculture, United States Forest Service
| url = http://gis.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/forest_facts/faqs/sea.shtml
| access-date = 2008-04-24
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110817063640/http://gis.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/forest_facts/faqs/sea.shtml
| archive-date = 2011-08-17
| url-status = dead
}} 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 {{convert|1|in|abbr=on}} of rain and/or snowfall per year,[http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?aklitt General Precipitation Tables for Little Port Walter] while in October 1974 {{convert|69.23|in|abbr=on|1}} of rain fell and in January 1985 {{convert|61.67|in|abbr=on|1}}. The record daily precipitation was {{convert|14.84|in|abbr=on|1}} on 6 December 1964. The driest month was February 1989 with {{convert|0.63|in|abbr=on|1}}, while the hottest day on record was August 12 of 1990 with {{convert|88|F|1}} and the coldest January 2 of 1966 with {{convert|0|F|1}} overnight. The heaviest snowfall in a month was {{convert|94.2|in|m|2|abbr=on}} in December 2001.
{{Weather box
| collapsed =
| location = Little Port Walter, Alaska (1991–2020 normals,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. extremes 1936–present)
| single line = Y
| Jan record high F = 59
| Feb record high F = 58
| Mar record high F = 58
| Apr record high F = 67
| May record high F = 72
| Jun record high F = 80
| Jul record high F = 79
| Aug record high F = 88
| Sep record high F = 73
| Oct record high F = 61
| Nov record high F = 57
| Dec record high F = 55
| Jan avg record high F = 48.1
| Feb avg record high F = 47.8
| Mar avg record high F = 48.9
| Apr avg record high F = 55.7
| May avg record high F = 64.8
| Jun avg record high F = 70.2
| Jul avg record high F = 71.0
| Aug avg record high F = 70.5
| Sep avg record high F = 63.9
| Oct avg record high F = 56.7
| Nov avg record high F = 51.5
| Dec avg record high F = 48.1
| year avg record high F = 74.2
| Jan high F = 37.9
| Feb high F = 38.9
| Mar high F = 40.8
| Apr high F = 46.7
| May high F = 53.8
| Jun high F = 58.3
| Jul high F = 61.3
| Aug high F = 61.3
| Sep high F = 56.3
| Oct high F = 49.2
| Nov high F = 42.5
| Dec high F = 38.9
| year high F = 48.8
| Jan mean F = 34.4
| Feb mean F = 35.1
| Mar mean F = 36.3
| Apr mean F = 41.2
| May mean F = 47.3
| Jun mean F = 52.4
| Jul mean F = 55.8
| Aug mean F = 55.9
| Sep mean F = 51.7
| Oct mean F = 45.0
| Nov mean F = 38.7
| Dec mean F = 35.6
| year mean F = 44.1
| Jan low F = 30.9
| Feb low F = 31.3
| Mar low F = 31.9
| Apr low F = 35.8
| May low F = 40.8
| Jun low F = 46.4
| Jul low F = 50.4
| Aug low F = 50.5
| Sep low F = 47.0
| Oct low F = 40.8
| Nov low F = 35.0
| Dec low F = 32.3
| year low F = 39.4
| Jan avg record low F = 19.3
| Feb avg record low F = 20.7
| Mar avg record low F = 21.2
| Apr avg record low F = 27.5
| May avg record low F = 32.7
| Jun avg record low F = 38.6
| Jul avg record low F = 42.8
| Aug avg record low F = 43.1
| Sep avg record low F = 37.9
| Oct avg record low F = 30.6
| Nov avg record low F = 24.5
| Dec avg record low F = 21.8
| year avg record low F = 13.8
| Jan record low F = 0
| Feb record low F = 3
| Mar record low F = 5
| Apr record low F = 18
| May record low F = 24
| Jun record low F = 32
| Jul record low F = 34
| Aug record low F = 35
| Sep record low F = 26
| Oct record low F = 23
| Nov record low F = 4
| Dec record low F = 4
| precipitation colour = green
| Jan precipitation inch = 27.97
| Feb precipitation inch = 18.93
| Mar precipitation inch = 18.11
| Apr precipitation inch = 14.65
| May precipitation inch = 12.23
| Jun precipitation inch = 7.85
| Jul precipitation inch = 10.37
| Aug precipitation inch = 16.74
| Sep precipitation inch = 25.72
| Oct precipitation inch = 31.61
| Nov precipitation inch = 29.39
| Dec precipitation inch = 32.15
| year precipitation inch = 245.72
| Jul snow inch = 0.0
| Aug snow inch = 0.0
| Sep snow inch = 0.0
| Oct snow inch = 0.4
| Nov snow inch = 10.3
| Dec snow inch = 21.6
| Jan snow inch = 28.0
| Feb snow inch = 19.7
| Mar snow inch = 20.1
| Apr snow inch = 1.7
| May snow inch = 0.0
| Jun snow inch = 0.0
| year snow inch = 101.8
| unit precipitation days = 0.01 in
| Jan precipitation days = 24.2
| Feb precipitation days = 19.6
| Mar precipitation days = 20.7
| Apr precipitation days = 18.8
| May precipitation days = 15.0
| Jun precipitation days = 14.8
| Jul precipitation days = 15.0
| Aug precipitation days = 16.7
| Sep precipitation days = 21.3
| Oct precipitation days = 24.1
| Nov precipitation days = 24.4
| Dec precipitation days = 24.6
| year precipitation days =
| unit snow days = 0.1 in
| Jul snow days = 0.0
| Aug snow days = 0.0
| Sep snow days = 0.0
| Oct snow days = 0.3
| Nov snow days = 3.4
| Dec snow days = 7.1
| Jan snow days = 8.0
| Feb snow days = 6.0
| Mar snow days = 6.8
| Apr snow days = 1.1
| May snow days = 0.1
| Jun snow days = 0.0
| year snow days =
{{cite web
|url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&stations=USC00505519&format=pdf&dataTypes=MLY-TMAX-NORMAL,MLY-TMIN-NORMAL,MLY-TAVG-NORMAL,MLY-PRCP-NORMAL,MLY-SNOW-NORMAL
|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
|title = U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access – Station: Little Port Walter, AK
|access-date = March 7, 2023
}}
|source 2 = National Weather Service
{{cite web
|url = https://www.weather.gov/wrh/climate?wfo=ajk
|publisher = National Weather Service
|title = NOAA Online Weather Data – NWS Juneau
|access-date = March 7, 2023
}}
}}
Demographics
{{US Census population
|1940= 21
|align-fn=center
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html|title=U.S. Decennial Census|publisher=Census.gov|accessdate=June 6, 2013}}
}}
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."{{Cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rr9RAQAAMAAJ&q=big+port+walter&pg=PA49 |title = Geological Survey Professional Paper|year = 1949}} It has not reported again on the census, and was later annexed into Sitka.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{cite web
| title = Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)
| publisher = United States of America, Geological Survey
| url = http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/
}}
{{Sitka Borough, Alaska}}