Aleutian Islands

The Aleutian Islands (possibly from Chukchi aliat, "island") are a chain of more than 300 small volcanic islands forming an island arc situated in the Northern Pacific Ocean, and extending about 1,900 km (1,200 mi) westward from the extremity of the Alaskan peninsula toward the Kamchatka Peninsula. Nearly all of the archipelago is part of the American state of Alaska and usually considered as being in the Alaskan Bush, but the extreme western end is part of Russia. The islands with their 57 volcanoes are located in the northern part of the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Climate

The climate of the islands is oceanic, with moderate and fairly uniform temperatures and heavy rainfall. Fogs are almost constant. The summers are much cooler than on the mainland at Sitka, but the winter temperature of the islands and of the Alaska Panhandle is very nearly the same. The mean annual temperature for Unalaska, the most important island of the group, is about 38 degrees Fahrenheit (3.4 degrees Celsius), being about 30 °F (−1.1 ºC) for January and about 52 °F (11.1 ºC) for August. The highest and lowest temperatures recorded on the islands are 78 °F (26 ºC) and 5 °F (−15 ºC), respectively. The average annual amount of rainfall is about 80 in (2,030 mm), and Unalaska, with about 250 rainy days per year, is said to be the rainiest place within the territory of the United States.

Related Topics:
Sitka - Alaska Panhandle - Unalaska - United States

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