Alaska/Western Canada obs and discussion

[beavis1729]

As cold as it has been during the past month in Alaska, it's getting even more intense now.

Here are some current temps as sunrise nears...just amazing:

Huslia -62

Tanana -59

Bettles -58

Fort Yukon -56

Galena -56

Kaltag -55

McGrath -52

Noatak -51

Selawik -51

Nenana -50

Fairbanks -48

Lowest current wind chill: -74 in Shungnak (-49 with a southeast wind at 8 mph)

[Stebo]

As cold as it has been during the past month in Alaska, it's getting even more intense now.

Here are some current temps as sunrise nears...just amazing:

Huslia -62

Tanana -59

Bettles -58

Fort Yukon -56

Galena -56

Kaltag -55

McGrath -52

Noatak -51

Selawik -51

Nenana -50

Fairbanks -48

Lowest current wind chill: -74 in Shungnak (-49 with a southeast wind at 8 mph)

Looks like a repeat this morning, some of the center parts of AK are -50 to -60. Pretty incredible even for AK standards.

[MTBLANC]

For sure it is possible to go outside with a -40/-50C cold.

Last week, I walked the dogs with temperatures ranging -40/-47, and it was possible.

Ad cmichweather mentions it, you should protect your mouth and nose and not take your breath directly, you should put some stuff between them and the frigid air.

For everything else (pants, jackets, gloves, bonnet), you have perfect clothes here to go outside...

-53C this morning in Old Crow .... brrrrrrrrrr !

[beavis1729]

Looks like a repeat this morning, some of the center parts of AK are -50 to -60. Pretty incredible even for AK standards.

Yep...the Fort Yukon airport hit -62F.

Incidentally, Fort Yukon holds the all-time AK high temp (100F).

[beavis1729]

^{PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT}

^{NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK}

^{249 PM AKST SUN JAN 29 2012}

^{...SECOND DAY OF WIDESPREAD 50 TO 65 BELOW TEMPERATURES ACROSS}

^{THE INTERIOR...}

^{TEMPERATURES PLUMMETED AGAIN OVERNIGHT SATURDAY INTO}

^{SUNDAY...BRINGING WIDESPREAD 50 TO 65 BELOW TEMPERATURES INTO}

^{THE INTERIOR OF ALASKA. HERE ARE VALUES FROM COOPERATIVE OBSERVERS}

^{AND WEATHER STATIONS ACROSS THE INTERIOR AS OF NOON SUNDAY:}

^{FORT YUKON CO-OP..............65 BELOW}

^{KANDIK RIVER CO-OP............64 BELOW}

^{FORT YUKON AIRPORT............62 BELOW*}

^{BETTLES.......................60 BELOW**}

^{HUSLIA........................60 BELOW}

^{MANLEY HOT SPRINGS............60 BELOW}

^{NORTH POLE/WOODSMOKE CO-OP....60 BELOW}

^{CHICKEN CO-OP.................59 BELOW}

^{GALENA AIRPORT................58 BELOW}

^{TANANA........................58 BELOW}

^{CIRCLE HOT SPRINGS CO-OP......58 BELOW}

^{DELTA 20 SE CO-OP.............58 BELOW}

^{COLDFOOT......................57 BELOW}

^{EAGLE CO-OP...................57 BELOW}

^{KALTAG........................56 BELOW}

^{GOLDSTREAM CREEK CO-OP........55 BELOW}

^{ARCTIC VILLAGE................54 BELOW}

^{NENANA........................54 BELOW}

^{SALCHA........................54 BELOW}

^{FAIRBANKS AIRPORT.............51 BELOW}

^{DELTA JUNCTION/FT GREELY......50 BELOW}

^{LAKE MINCHUMINA CO-OP.........50 BELOW}

^{MCGRATH.......................50 BELOW}

^{*TIED DAILY RECORD LOW OF 62 BELOW SET IN 1909}

^{**EXCEEDS DAILY RECORD LOW OF 58 BELOW SET IN 1989}

[beavis1729]

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK

434 AM AKST SUN JAN 29 2012

..THE DEEP COLD CONTINUES

..2ND 50 BELOW AT FAIRBANKS

..POTENTIALLY ONE OF THE TOP TEN COLDEST WINTER MONTHS ON RECORD

SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT THIS MORNING THE TEMPERATURE AT THE

FAIRBANKS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT DROPPED TO 51 BELOW. THIS IS THE

2ND DAY IN A ROW WITH A TEMPERATURE OF 50 BELOW OR LOWER AT THE

AIRPORT.

YESTERDAY (SATURDAY) THE LOW OF 50 BELOW WAS THE FIRST TIME THE

TEMPERATURE HAD DROPPED TO 50 BELOW AT THE AIRPORT SINCE JANUARY

27, 2006. THE HIGH YESTERDAY WAS ONLY 42 BELOW. THIS WAS THE

COLDEST HIGH TEMPERATURE AT THE AIRPORT SINCE JANUARY 2, 2000.

THE LAST TIME THERE WERE BACK TO BACK 50 BELOW DAYS AT THE AIRPORT

WAS ON DECEMBER 30-31, 1999.

SO FAR THIS JANUARY THERE HAVE BEEN 15 DAYS WITH A LOW

TEMPERATURE OF 40 BELOW OR COLDER. THIS TIES WITH 1972 FOR THE

MOST 40 BELOW DAYS IN JANUARY IN THE LAST 40 YEARS. THE ALL-TIME

RECORD OF 21 SET BACK IN 1971 WILL REMAIN SAFE AS THERE ARE ONLY

TWO MORE DAYS IN THE MONTH (AFTER TODAY...WHICH HAS ALREADY BEEN

ACCOUNTED FOR IN THIS STATEMENT).

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE SO FAR THIS MONTH OF -25.8 DEGREES IS 18.5

DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. WE ARE ON PACE FOR THE COLDEST JANUARY SINCE

1971...AND EASILY ONE OF THE TOP TEN COLDEST ON RECORD.

1906...1934...AND 1971 ALL HAD AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE

MONTH OF 30 BELOW OR COLDER AND WILL NOT BE TOPPED THIS MONTH.

THE COLDEST JANUARY ON RECORD WAS 1906 WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE

OF -36.4...HOWEVER...IN 1906 TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE TAKEN AT THE

DOWNTOWN EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND HOURLY TEMPERATURE RECORD WERE NOT

TAKEN. HAD HOURLY TEMPERATURE RECORDS BEEN TAKEN IT IS POSSIBLE

THAT THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WOULD HAVE BEEN

SOMEWHAT WARMER.

ANY WAY YOU SLICE IT THIS WILL END UP AS ONE OF THE COLDEST WINTER

MONTHS ON RECORD AT FAIRBANKS. ONLY 4 TIMES DID THE MONTH OF

DECEMBER (1917...1933...1956 AND 1964) HAVE AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE

THAT WAS COLDER THAN THIS JANUARY (MONTH TO DATE). ONLY 6 TIMES IN

JANUARY (1906...1909...1934...1966...1969...1971) WAS THE MONTHLY

AVERAGE TEMPERATURE ANY COLDER THAN THIS JANUARY. NEVER HAS THE

MONTH OF FEBRUARY HAD AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE THAT WAS COLDER THAN

JANUARY 2012. THERE IS THE CHANCE THAT THIS JANUARY WILL END JUST

WITHIN THE TOP TEN COLDEST MONTHS EVER ON RECORD AT FAIRBANKS.

[Cheeznado]

All-time U.S. low temperature record threatened?

The coldest temperature ever recorded in the U.S. was a -80°F (-62.2°C) reading from Prospect Creek, AK (about 180 miles north of Fairbanks) on January 23, 1971. A weather station just a few miles from Prospect Creek, the Jim River DOT site, appears to have recorded a low temperature between -78°F and -79°F Saturday morning (January 28, 2012), shortly before the weather station lost power. Keeping the power going at -70 is very tough, and it is not a surprise to see that the station lost power during this extraordinary cold snap. Power just returned this morning to the site, where the temperature was -66°F at 7 am AKST. Wunderground's weather historian Christopher C. Burt is corresponding with Alaska's state climatologist to get more information on whether the data during the power outage will be recoverable, and how reliable these near-record low temperature might be.

http://www.wundergro...sters/show.html

[beavis1729]

Unfortunately...

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK

252 PM AKST MON JAN 30 2012

...CLARIFICATION OF TEMPERATURES FROM JIM RIVER DOT CAMP...

TEMPERATURES THIS PAST WEEKEND AT THE ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF

TRANSPORTATION JIM RIVER MAINTENANCE CAMP AT MILE 138 DALTON

HIGHWAY...STATION JMTA2...HAVE BEEN REPORTED AS LOW AS 79 BELOW.

THE TEMPERATURES ARE NOT CORRECT. THE WEATHER STATION IN USE AT

THE JIM RIVER DOT CAMP IS A PERSONAL WEATHER STATION THAT IS NOT

RATED FOR TEMPERATURE COLDER THAN 40 BELOW. THE UNREALISTICALLY

LOW TEMPERATURES ARE BELIEVED TO BE A FUNCTION OF THE BATTERY

FAILING AT VERY LOW TEMPERATURES.

THERE ARE NO OFFICIAL...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STANDARD...

TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENTS AT JIM RIVER DOT CAMP.

[Chinook]

Part of Siberia and Alaska more than 32 C below normal. That's the turquoise colors. That's 58 F below normal.

source for this plot:

http://policlimate.com/weather/current/raw_temp_c.html

November 1st to January 23rd temperature anomalies on NCEP reanalysis. Wow. cold times in Alaska. Quite the La Nina surprise in western Canada and North Dakota.

[Quakertown needs snow]

sick temps, wow

[MTBLANC]

As you can notice, cold stopped at the Yukon border !

Even if we got a frigid November with 3C deficit, december was 7C above the normals here, and January should end with a 4C deficit.

[beavis1729]

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK

512 AM AKST TUE JAN 31 2012

...A COLD JANUARY FOR JUST ABOUT ALL OF NORTHERN ALASKA...

ALL OF NORTHERN ALASKA WAS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A PERSISTENTLY

COLD AIR MASS THIS JANUARY. WHEN THE TEMPERATURE RECORDS GET

CALCULATED AT THE END OF THE MONTH SEVERAL COMMUNITIES WILL HAVE

THEIR COLDEST JANUARY ON RECORD. THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE

DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL LIKELY OCCURRED ACROSS THE WESTERN

INTERIOR WHERE THE SKY WAS MORE PERSISTENTLY CLEAR...WHICH ALLOWED

TEMPERATURES TO REMAIN VERY LOW FOR A PROLONGED PERIOD OF TIME.

AT NOME...THIS JANUARY WILL LIKELY END UP AS THE COLDEST ON

RECORD. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF -15.4 DEGREES THROUGH YESTERDAY

MAKES THIS THE COLDEST JANUARY ON RECORD. TEMPERATURE RECORDS AT

NOME DATE BACK TO 1907.

AT KOTZEBUE...THIS JANUARY LOOKS TO END AS THE 2ND COLDEST SINCE

1929. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF -21.9 DEGREES IS THE COLDEST

SINCE 1934 WHEN THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS -27.7 DEGREES.

CONTINUOUS TEMPERATURE RECORDS AT KOTZEBUE DATE BACK TO 1929.

AT BARROW...THIS JANUARY IS EXPECTED TO END UP AS THE COLDEST

SINCE 1990 WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF -20.1 DEGREES THROUGH

YESTERDAY. THE MONTH WILL NOT END UP AS ONE OF THE TOP TEN

COLDEST. CONTINUOUS RECORDS AT BARROW DATE BACK TO 1921.

AT GALENA...THIS JANUARY WILL BE THE COLDEST ON RECORD. THE

AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF -33.5 DEGREES THROUGH YESTERDAY WILL EASILY

ENSURE THAT THIS JANUARY SURPASS THE -31.4 DEGREES THAT WAS

OBSERVED IN 1971. WEATHER RECORDS AT GALENA DATE BACK TO 1942.

AT BETTLES...THIS JANUARY WILL END UP AS THE COLDEST ON RECORD.

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF -35 DEGREES THROUGH YESTERDAY WILL

SURPASS THE OLD RECORD OF -34 DEGREES ALSO IN 1971. THE RECORDS AT

BETTLES DATE BACK TO 1951.

AT FAIRBANKS...THIS JANUARY WILL LIKELY GO DOWN IN THE RECORD

BOOKS AS THE 5TH COLDEST ON RECORD WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF

-26.7 DEGREES THROUGH YESTERDAY. TEMPERATURE DATA AT FAIRBANKS

DATES BACK TO 1904.

IT IS LIKELY THAT MANY COMMUNITIES IN WESTERN ALASKA...AND

ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE WESTERN INTERIOR HAD THEIR COLDEST JANUARY

ON RECORD. THERE WILL BE MORE DETAILS ON THE COLD JANUARY EARLY

NEXT MONTH.

[MTBLANC]

What for a difference with Yukon. 3C below average in November and January, but almost 7C above average in December....

You have for sure a great winter there in Alaska !

[MTBLANC]

Good evening everybody,

Very mild here in the territory, with temperatures up to +7C in Mayo, +6 in Watson lake, +4 in Faro, +2 here at my place.

We also got some rain, which is a bit incredible at this time of the year. Roads and streets were very icy in my area, and wind gusts up to 90 km/h in south Yukon drove to some power outages.

Temperatures will go down in upcoming days, and it should not be too cold with sunny conditions !

Tomorrow, it is the start of the Yukon Quest with links Fairbanks to Whitehorse for this 1,000 miles race !

Conditions seem to be far better than last year.

[#NoPoles]

and to think i was upset when they took away the 60's for highs in the 14day forecast for Albuquerque, NM...you all are as hardy as a tank to make it through that winter!!!

[patrick7032]

After a month where we averaged 8.9 degrees below normal on highs and 11.0 degrees below normal on lows with 4 records set for snow....low temps....and a record low minimum high....this also involved 10 BLIZZARD WARNINGS and 2 HIGH WIND WARNINGS (out here we don't issue HIGH WIND WARNINGS in the Aleutian chain until they meet hurricane force criteria)....you would think it may calm down some....nope....we had a blizzard Tuesday where winds peaked at 89 with damage to a building (see attached pictures)....then another blizzard Thursday with a record low temp of 1 above....the blizzard lasted 18 hours....then a 6 hour break before a 48 hour long storm with winds of 45-70....looks like our anemometer on the ASOS got damaged from it as it's down (not working for over a day now)....love how active it has been as the shifts go by fast.

[patrick7032]

Interesting weather pattern continues for the Aleutian chain....and quite an interesting pattern at 500 mb....have another storm impinging on the Alaska peninsula with another very respectable system expected Sunday....fun times out here and hopefully some of the energy will spill south in time to give the lower 48 some much needed snow.

[MTBLANC]

Good evening,

I did not post in the past weeks .... weather conditions are so boring here in Yukon with temperatures above the normals of about 10C....

Yesterday we had an amazing display of northernlights in Whitehorse, the most beautiful I ever saw. Here are some pictures, and a link to the site:

Have a great evening !

[MTBLANC]

Another night of northern lights display, with my first red shades:

Temperatures are back to the normals, with -22.7/-4.9 yesterday and -22.3C this morning.

[#NoPoles]

Another night of northern lights display, with my first red shades:

Temperatures are back to the normals, with -22.7/-4.9 yesterday and -22.3C this morning.

so beautiful!!! i have only seen the green, and i have only seen the Aurora once...during my freshman year at Lyndon State College in Vermont...which would have been back in the day in 1996-1997

[patrick7032]

so beautiful!!! i have only seen the green, and i have only seen the Aurora once...during my freshman year at Lyndon State College in Vermont...which would have been back in the day in 1996-1997

[patrick7032]

so beautiful!!! i have only seen the green, and i have only seen the Aurora once...during my freshman year at Lyndon State College in Vermont...which would have been back in the day in 1996-1997

Nice pics MTBLANC....every month I fly from Cold Bay, Alaska to Detroit, Michigan and the last return trip at about 1am and 36,000 ft looking towards your area seen a great display. Listed below are some links to the pictures/movies of Northern Lights in Alaska this past few weeks.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000552091561&ref=tn_tnmn#!/media/set/?set=a.301604916559575.83400.137686999618035&type=3

[#NoPoles]

there is a heart in that bottom pic...how fitting for V-Day

[MTBLANC]

the last one is so beautiful Patrick !

[beavis1729]

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK

500 AM AKST SAT MAR 3 2012

..THIS WINTER IS NOW THE 3RD SNOWIEST ON RECORD FOR ANCHORAGE

AS OF 3 AM SATURDAY MORNING THE SEASONAL SNOWFALL IN ANCHORAGE

REACHED 121.8 INCHES. THIS PASSES THE 121.5 INCHES OF THE 1994-1995

SEASON THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY IN THIRD PLACE. THE 132.8 INCHES IN THE

WINTER OF 1954-1955 IS THE MOST ON RECORD.

[MTBLANC]

Hi everybody !

I did not post very much pas weeks, weather has been so boring in February....

We have been about 6C above the normals here, whereas the airport and Dawson City have almost been +8C above the normals. No comment....

This week seems however to be very snow here in the Whitehorse area with +15 cm snowfall forecast by GFS.

Wait & See, for sure, but if so, I would break my personal snow depth record which is 47 cm.

I will keep you posted.

Have a great day !

[beavis1729]

Here is an Alaska weather blog...I thought you all might be interested:

http://www.williwaw.com/

In particular, see today's post about the much above normal snowfall in various towns in Alaska:

http://www.williwaw....aska-snow-race/

[MTBLANC]

Here is an Alaska weather blog...I thought you all might be interested:

http://www.williwaw.com/

In particular, see today's post about the much above normal snowfall in various towns in Alaska:

http://www.williwaw....aska-snow-race/

Thank you, Beavis, for sharing... this blog is really interesting !

[patrick7032]

After a relatively warm month here in most of Alaska (even the southwest in central interior spent a week in the 30s-40s) a return to a wet and snow pattern looks to continue. Here in Cold Bay for the month of February we had 6.01 inches of precip which is well above or normal of 3.06. we also had 27.3 inches of snow which again was well above the 12.9 average. As we enjoyed the warmer weather especially last week a large chunk of energy dived down into the lower 48 which helped the Tornado outbreak. After the nice respite it looks like the pattern is begging to "reload" up here and perhaps "calm down" some in the lower 48 as the jet pattern changes..

[MTBLANC]

51 cm snow on ground, 18 cm snowfall since Tuesday, 1.60m snowfall for the season.

Winter is back here in South Yukon.

Unfortunately, we may be above zero this afternoon... too bad, this is so beautiful !