Cold Alaska is cold
FAIRBANKS - The ice slide at the ice park in North Pole hasn’t been getting much use lately.
“It’s pretty sticky at 30 below,” said Michelle Sikma, one of the board members for North Pole’s ice carving extravaganza, Christmas in Ice. “It makes it hard to slide down.”
Not that many people have been standing in line to do so the last few days.
The first cold snap of the season has sent temperatures around the Interior plummeting to the coldest they’ve been in more than a year in Fairbanks, and forecasters say it likely will be a few more days before things begin to warm up.
The temperature dropped to 40 degrees below zero for the first time this winter on Wednesday night at Fairbanks International Airport, and it was still there on Thursday. The low temperature at the airport officially hit 41 below both Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
It marked the first 40 below temperature at the airport since Jan. 12, according to the National Weather Service in Fairbanks.
The cold temperatures prompted the National Weather Service to issue a dense ice fog advisory in Fairbanks through 10 a.m. today.
Overnight low temperatures are expected to remain in the 40 to 50 below range through Saturday night with highs expected to be anywhere from 25 to 40 below. Things could warm slightly Sunday, but meteorologist Rick Thoman at the weather service wasn’t making any promises.
“At this point, there’s no signs of clouds moving into the area until early next week,” he said.
As long as it stays clear, the temperature won’t change much, Thoman said. Many areas on the Yukon Flats had temperatures of 50 below or colder early Thursday morning, with the coldest being 54 below in Fort Yukon.
Temperatures in the hills are much warmer than the valley floor. The temperature at Thoman’s house on top of 2,890-foot Murphy Dome on Thursday morning was a balmy 6 below, he said.
“It feels delightful compared to down here,” he said.
The recent cold snap continued what has been a cold start to December in Fairbanks. The average temperature at the airport through the first half of the month was minus 17.3 degrees, which was 11 degrees below normal.
It is the coldest start to the month since December 2001 and the fourth-coldest start to December since 1980. It is the 23rd coldest start to the month since the National Weather Service began keeping records in 1904.
But it could be a lot worse. In 1935, for example, there were 10 consecutive days with low temperatures of 50 below or colder during the first half of the month, according to a public information statement from the weather service.
The first 40 below temperature in Fairbanks came more than two weeks early. On average, the first 40 below temperature of the season occurs on Dec. 31, and there are an average of seven days each winter when the low temperature hits 40 below or lower.
Last winter, the temperature hit 40 below only one time - 41 below on Jan. 12.
“We’ve now doubled that,” Thoman said Thursday morning.
So far this month, 13 of the first 16 days have had a low temperature of 20 below or lower. The average high temperature for this time of year is 3 above with an average low of 15 below.
Business at local auto parts stores and towing companies was heating up as vehicles rebelled against the cold.
“Batteries, block heaters and heater blower motors,” Pete Peterson at NAPA Auto and Truck Parts on Gaffney Road said of the most popular items he’s selling these days. “Yesterday we had a couple calls for space heaters.”
The scene is the same at Schuck’s O’Reilly Auto Parts on College Road, parts specialist Stacy Armstrong said
“Block heaters, batteries, starters, alternators,” she said, rattling off a list of hot-selling parts. “Things start breaking when it gets this cold - 20, 30 and 40 below.”
After a relatively mild November, the cold temperatures in December seem to have caught people off guard, Armstrong said.
“You need to have your vehicle plugged in,” she said. “People don’t think you need a block heater or oil pan heater, but when they turn the key it’s not happening.”
Tow companies have also been busy. Shawn Ross, owner of Badger Towing, said he had a waiting list with customers’ names on it Thursday. He prioritizes his calls based on the situation, Ross said.
“If they’re home and warm and their car won’t start they’re put on the back burner for people on the road whose cars are dead,” he said. “I can’t have somebody freezing to death out there.”
While many of the calls he gets are for frozen vehicles that won’t start, Ross also said he’s seeing a lot of flat tires this winter.
“People aren’t checking their tire pressures, and they go five or eight miles down the road and a low tire warms up and goes flat when they’re going 50 mph,” he said. “Then they’re shredded. I’ve picked up 20 or 25 vehicles with shredded tires like that.
“If you start out with square tires you have to stop and look at them because that means a tire is low,” Ross said.
The freak rainstorm that hit Fairbanks three weeks ago might be part of the reason for failing tires, he said.
“During that rain, they may have got a little ice down in the bead and, now that it’s beyond cold, it’s wreaking havoc on the bead and letting air out,” he said.
Thoman was reluctant to call the current cold spell an official cold snap until it lasts at least a week, but he said the cold temperatures have gotten the attention of residents.
“We’re getting a lot more phone calls,” Thoman said. “People want to know when it’s going to warm up.”
18. A photo of you on a school trip
Latin area competition thing haha. I'm with my teacher Magister Sales. :D I actually got all the way to nationals but Magister couldn't go so I couldn't either. That would have been so cool though haha /huge nerd
1. Your Facebook profile photo
2. A photo of yourself a year ago
3. A photo that makes you happy
4. A photo of the last place you went on holiday
5. A photo that makes you laugh
6. A photo of someone you love
7. A photo of your favorite band/musician
8. A photo of your family
9. A photo of you as a baby
10. A photo of your favorite film(s)
11. A photo of you
12. A photo of your best friend(s)
13. A photo of one of your favorite family members
14. A photo of you and someone you love
15. A photo of you at the last party you went to
16. A drunk photo of you
17. A photo of one of your classes
18. A photo of you on a school trip
19. A photo of something you enjoy doing
20. A photo of you standing up
21. A photo of your town
22. A photo of your friend as a baby
23. A photo of you that your hair looks nice in
24. A photo of a night you loved
25. A photo of your favorite weekend
26. A photo of last summer
27. A photo of what you ate today
28. A photo of someone you find attractive
29. A photo of you when you were happy
30. A photo of you and your mom
“It’s pretty sticky at 30 below,” said Michelle Sikma, one of the board members for North Pole’s ice carving extravaganza, Christmas in Ice. “It makes it hard to slide down.”
Not that many people have been standing in line to do so the last few days.
The first cold snap of the season has sent temperatures around the Interior plummeting to the coldest they’ve been in more than a year in Fairbanks, and forecasters say it likely will be a few more days before things begin to warm up.
The temperature dropped to 40 degrees below zero for the first time this winter on Wednesday night at Fairbanks International Airport, and it was still there on Thursday. The low temperature at the airport officially hit 41 below both Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
It marked the first 40 below temperature at the airport since Jan. 12, according to the National Weather Service in Fairbanks.
The cold temperatures prompted the National Weather Service to issue a dense ice fog advisory in Fairbanks through 10 a.m. today.
Overnight low temperatures are expected to remain in the 40 to 50 below range through Saturday night with highs expected to be anywhere from 25 to 40 below. Things could warm slightly Sunday, but meteorologist Rick Thoman at the weather service wasn’t making any promises.
“At this point, there’s no signs of clouds moving into the area until early next week,” he said.
As long as it stays clear, the temperature won’t change much, Thoman said. Many areas on the Yukon Flats had temperatures of 50 below or colder early Thursday morning, with the coldest being 54 below in Fort Yukon.
Temperatures in the hills are much warmer than the valley floor. The temperature at Thoman’s house on top of 2,890-foot Murphy Dome on Thursday morning was a balmy 6 below, he said.
“It feels delightful compared to down here,” he said.
The recent cold snap continued what has been a cold start to December in Fairbanks. The average temperature at the airport through the first half of the month was minus 17.3 degrees, which was 11 degrees below normal.
It is the coldest start to the month since December 2001 and the fourth-coldest start to December since 1980. It is the 23rd coldest start to the month since the National Weather Service began keeping records in 1904.
But it could be a lot worse. In 1935, for example, there were 10 consecutive days with low temperatures of 50 below or colder during the first half of the month, according to a public information statement from the weather service.
The first 40 below temperature in Fairbanks came more than two weeks early. On average, the first 40 below temperature of the season occurs on Dec. 31, and there are an average of seven days each winter when the low temperature hits 40 below or lower.
Last winter, the temperature hit 40 below only one time - 41 below on Jan. 12.
“We’ve now doubled that,” Thoman said Thursday morning.
So far this month, 13 of the first 16 days have had a low temperature of 20 below or lower. The average high temperature for this time of year is 3 above with an average low of 15 below.
Business at local auto parts stores and towing companies was heating up as vehicles rebelled against the cold.
“Batteries, block heaters and heater blower motors,” Pete Peterson at NAPA Auto and Truck Parts on Gaffney Road said of the most popular items he’s selling these days. “Yesterday we had a couple calls for space heaters.”
The scene is the same at Schuck’s O’Reilly Auto Parts on College Road, parts specialist Stacy Armstrong said
“Block heaters, batteries, starters, alternators,” she said, rattling off a list of hot-selling parts. “Things start breaking when it gets this cold - 20, 30 and 40 below.”
After a relatively mild November, the cold temperatures in December seem to have caught people off guard, Armstrong said.
“You need to have your vehicle plugged in,” she said. “People don’t think you need a block heater or oil pan heater, but when they turn the key it’s not happening.”
Tow companies have also been busy. Shawn Ross, owner of Badger Towing, said he had a waiting list with customers’ names on it Thursday. He prioritizes his calls based on the situation, Ross said.
“If they’re home and warm and their car won’t start they’re put on the back burner for people on the road whose cars are dead,” he said. “I can’t have somebody freezing to death out there.”
While many of the calls he gets are for frozen vehicles that won’t start, Ross also said he’s seeing a lot of flat tires this winter.
“People aren’t checking their tire pressures, and they go five or eight miles down the road and a low tire warms up and goes flat when they’re going 50 mph,” he said. “Then they’re shredded. I’ve picked up 20 or 25 vehicles with shredded tires like that.
“If you start out with square tires you have to stop and look at them because that means a tire is low,” Ross said.
The freak rainstorm that hit Fairbanks three weeks ago might be part of the reason for failing tires, he said.
“During that rain, they may have got a little ice down in the bead and, now that it’s beyond cold, it’s wreaking havoc on the bead and letting air out,” he said.
Thoman was reluctant to call the current cold spell an official cold snap until it lasts at least a week, but he said the cold temperatures have gotten the attention of residents.
“We’re getting a lot more phone calls,” Thoman said. “People want to know when it’s going to warm up.”
18. A photo of you on a school trip
Latin area competition thing haha. I'm with my teacher Magister Sales. :D I actually got all the way to nationals but Magister couldn't go so I couldn't either. That would have been so cool though haha /huge nerd
1. Your Facebook profile photo
2. A photo of yourself a year ago
3. A photo that makes you happy
4. A photo of the last place you went on holiday
5. A photo that makes you laugh
6. A photo of someone you love
7. A photo of your favorite band/musician
8. A photo of your family
9. A photo of you as a baby
10. A photo of your favorite film(s)
11. A photo of you
12. A photo of your best friend(s)
13. A photo of one of your favorite family members
14. A photo of you and someone you love
15. A photo of you at the last party you went to
16. A drunk photo of you
17. A photo of one of your classes
18. A photo of you on a school trip
19. A photo of something you enjoy doing
20. A photo of you standing up
21. A photo of your town
22. A photo of your friend as a baby
23. A photo of you that your hair looks nice in
24. A photo of a night you loved
25. A photo of your favorite weekend
26. A photo of last summer
27. A photo of what you ate today
28. A photo of someone you find attractive
29. A photo of you when you were happy
30. A photo of you and your mom