From Homer to Barrow, the temperatures fell each day. Fairbanks experienced six consecutive days where the high temperature was no warmer minus-40. On Jan. 25, much of the state received a light break when a storm system in the Gulf of Alaska stirred the air over the state somewhat. In Fairbanks it warmed to 33 below. But we hadn't seen anything yet. A dome of extremely cold air moved from Alaska's north slope to the western interior on January 26th. As Thoman, then stationed in Nome, reported, records toppled at every weather station west of a line from Manley Hot Springs to Lake Minchumina. That same day, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner announced that an Alaska milestone was in jeopardy: "The Weather Service predicts Alaska's state record low of 80 below, recorded January 23, 1971 at Prospect Creek on the Dalton Highway, is likely to fall this week, possibly even today." The record held but Tanana came close to knocking it off, with an official low of 76 degrees below zero. McGrath followed closely at 75 below, and people in towns all over Alaska coped with extremes they'd only read about in Jack London novels: Thirty below zero in Anchorage, the coldest January day there since 1975; Homer chilled at minus 24 degrees Fahrenheit; teeth chattered in Juneau at minus 3 degrees; and Fairbanks festered at 51 below. Though Alaskans may have been disappointed at missing the low temperature record ("If it's this cold, might as well go for it" seemed a common sentiment); one record was shattered -- the highest barometric pressure reading ever recorded in North America occurred at Northway, Alaska. On Jan. 31, the barometric pressure there was 31.85 inches of mercury, a measurement surpassed only by two readings in Siberia -- a 32.06 in 1968 and a 31.86 in 1900.
The #Coldest #Winter I can remember from growing up around here:
#Alaska #AltText #SubZero #Arctic #NorthernTown #NorthernSoul #NorthernGirl #AlaskaLife #Fahrenheit
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