Mild winter strikes Aleutians, thanks to East Coast misery

UNALASKA (AP) -- When it comes to weather, what's bad for the East Coast is good for the Aleutians.

The snowstorms and unusually cold weather that have plagued the East Coast have actually had a calming affect on Alaska, weather experts say.

It's been a remarkably mild, windless winter in the Aleutians, aside from the occasional snowstorm. Other parts of Alaska have had virtually no snow and steady above-freezing temperatures.

Dave Goldstein, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Anchorage, said the same system that brings nasty weather to the East Coast brings warm weather to the Aleutians, and vice versa.

''We've had this pattern, which has kept us mild here,'' he said. ''It's all tied into the Lower 48 getting the record winter they're having.''

Goldstein said those alternate weather patterns have been in place for years. The rule of thumb is that a streak of miserable weather in one location is good news for the other.

''In Southcentral Alaska, we had a beautiful summer here in 1995,'' Goldstein told the Dutch Harbor Fisherman. ''That was the same time they were having major flooding along the Mississippi.''

Goldstein said since he moved to Alaska in the 1970s, the weather has been predictably unpredictable.

''It's all pretty much part of the changeable weather we have,'' he said. ''It would be pretty boring if we had the same weather every summer and winter.''

Still, there are plenty of exceptions to the mild winter rule, Goldstein said. With that, he predicts that Unalaska will get its coldest snap of the year this weekend.