Santa Ana Peak is a mountain
summit
A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous.
The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...
in
Alaska
Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
, United States.
Description
Santa Ana Peak is located east of
Seward in the
Kenai Mountains
The Kenai Mountains ( Dena'ina: ''Yaghanen Dghili'') are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Alaska. They extend northeast from the southern end of the Kenai Peninsula to the Chugach Mountains, and have an average elevation of 3,000 to 5,00 ...
, on land managed by the
Alaska Department of Natural Resources
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources is a department within the government of Alaska in the United States. The department has the mission of responsibly developing Alaska's resources by making them available for maximum use and benefit c ...
. Precipitation
runoff and glacial meltwater from the mountain drains west to
Resurrection Bay
Resurrection Bay, also known as Blying Sound, and Harding Gateway in its outer reaches, is a fjord on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska, United States. Its main settlement is Seward, Alaska, Seward, located at the head of the bay. The bay received ...
via
Fourth of July Creek and from the east slope to
Day Harbor.
Topographic relief
Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...
is significant as the summit rises over 3,700 feet (1,128 m) above the creek in less than and 4,764 feet (1,452 m) above tidewater of the harbor in . The mountain's toponym was officially adopted June 13, 2019, by the
United States Board on Geographic Names
The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a Federal government of the United States, federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geogr ...
.
The mountain is named for the wooden steamship ''Santa Ana'' which brought Seward's founders to this area in 1903.
Climate
Based on the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
, Santa Ana Peak is located in a
tundra climate
The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. It is classified as ET according to the Köppen climate classification. It is a climate which at least one month has an average temperature high enough ...
zone with long, cold, snowy winters, and mild summers.
Weather systems coming off the
Gulf of Alaska
The Gulf of Alaska ( Tlingit: ''Yéil T'ooch’'') is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the ...
are forced upwards by the Kenai Mountains (
orographic lift
Orographic lift occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and cr ...
), causing heavy precipitation in the form of rainfall and snowfall. Winter temperatures can drop below 0 °F with wind chill factors below −10 °F. This climate supports the Godwin Glacier to the north and smaller unnamed glaciers on the slopes of the peak.
Gallery
File:Anchorage to Seward - Seward area (5857544802).jpg, Santa Ana Peak to the left
See also
*
List of mountain peaks of Alaska
This article comprises three sortable tables of major mountain peaks of the U.S. State of Alaska.
The summit of a mountain or hill may be measured in three principal ways:
#The topographic elevation of a summit measures the height of the summi ...
*
Geography of Alaska
Alaska occupies the northwestern portion of the North American continent and is bordered only by Canada on the east. It is one of two U.S. states not bordered by another state; Hawaii is the other. Alaska has more ocean coastline than all of the ...
References
External links
* Santa Ana Peak
weather forecast* Santa Ana steamship (photo)
Peninsulaclarion.com
{{Portal bar, Mountains, Geography, Alaska
Mountains of Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska
Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area
One-thousanders of the United States