Shemya Island, is also referred to as the Black Pearl of the North Pacific Ocean, because of it's black sandy beaches. This is a result of millions of years of volcanic activity. Shemya is located at the far western edge of the aleutian chain of islands and  is part of what is known as the ring of fire. An area of active seismic/volcanic area that stretches from South America northward to California into Alaska and along the Pacific Rim of asia. My time spent on this tiny 2 miles by 4 miles was a weatherman's dream. The daily climate was harsh with few exceptions. Annual temperatures are moderate for that far north of a latitude. Winter storms were violent, frequently accompanied by gale to hurricane force winds. It was difficult to measure  snow because high winds would constantly blow it horizontally.

Late spring to early fall was a constant pea soup fog. And the sun was a rarity. On a few clear winter nights, we were treated to the Aurora Borealis. Shemya did not have a wide variety of weather.  In the year I resided on the Island it was strictly a maritime climate. I other words the temperatures id not fluctuate much. Even though it's latitude was above 52*, the average winter day would see temperatures between the upper 20's to mid 30's. And in the summer upper 40's to mid 50's.  Almost identical to the water temperatures. Several times I had someone from the mainland(Alaska) call to ask what I thought the weather was going to do and my response was call back in five minutes. You just never knew what was going to happen.

The Air Force was on Shemya originally because the Japanese tried to invade Alaska during World War 2. They ended up staying because of the cold war and the proximity to a Soviet Missile site on Kamchatka Peninsula. Not to be confused with the Vodka.  Interested  in finding out  more about Shemya Island, it's historical temperatures as well as climate data, just type Shemya into your favorite search engine.