life in alaska07 Jan 2009 08:12 am
a brief synopsis regarding the weather in Fairbanks
[The sun shining through the ice fog. January 2009, 12:30 p.m., -40 degrees.]
So, a common question Alaskans are always asked is, "How cold does it get there?" I thought you might like the answer to that question as well as some others about weather here in the Great, Frozen Northland ™.
- Winter in Fairbanks lasts from October through April, though snow in September and May is not uncommon. Typically it begins snowing in October, and melts in late April.
- Temperatures above O F (-18 C) are quite nice for us. Crazy people wear shorts. Even non-crazy people will go without hats and gloves if it's above 0.
- Typical average temperatures for December and January are around -20 F (-28 C), which is still tolerable.
- Children go outside for recess here if it is warmer than -20 F (-28 C).
- Luckily for us, we don't get much wind in the winter. In my opinion places with windy winters have it much worse than we do.
- The lowest temperature I've experienced since living here was -52 F (-47 C). -60 (-51 C) is not unheard of, though.
- It doesn't snow all that much here, but what snow we do get lasts until spring. This winter we've had 32″ (81 cm) so far. An average winter snowfall is about 62″ (1.5 m).
- Once temperatures drop below 0 F (-18 C), the snow gets crumbly and can't be packed anymore into snowmen and snowballs. There's a narrow window for snowball fights in the fall and spring.
- It is entirely possible that the temperature will not rise above 0 F (-18 C) for the whole month of January.
- In spite of all this, summers are actually pretty warm here. Temps can get up into the 80's (+ 27 C) or higher.
- In a calendar year in Fairbanks you might see a difference of 130 degrees or more, from -50 to 80 F. (-46 to + 27 C.)
I hope you found this interesting. I tried to think back on all the things I wanted to know before moving here. What weather extremes do you see where you live?
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Thanks for sharing all the beautiful pictures and amazing weather facts. I've been following your blog since just before Christmas when your snowflake pattern was linked from another blog (I can't remember which one, sorry). The fact that kids play outside above -20 degrees is fascinating to me. The rule at both my son's school and my daughter's daycare is that the kids go outside as long as it's above 32 degrees. (We live in southeast Tennessee). I simply cannot imagine how cold it must feel at -50. Can you describe what that feels like?
Thanks again,
Jennie
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Great post. I am glad I didn't move to Fairbanks, but I can't wait to visit this summer!
Funny, I was going to write a similiar post about what a typical day is like here in Anchorage at 20 below, but then something happened to my bff so I wrote about that instead. My cold post will wait until tomorrow.
Karen Travels’s last blog post..Karma?
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Jennie- You're so welcome! I am glad you are reading and liking the pictures.
Recess above 32 degrees, ha! We'd be inside from October to April! -20 is not an arbitrary choice; below -20 there is a substantial risk of frostbite.
I love your question about what -50 feels like– I'm going to write a whole post about it.
Thanks so much for the suggestion and for reading.
Karen- Well, I guess I can't blame you for not wanting to live here… Summers are wonderful though– all sunshine! You should come up for the solstice festival in June. There's a street fair and the midnight sun baseball game.
I look forward to reading about life at -20 in Anchorage!
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hey there, fellow fairbanksian. i was searching the web for instructions on how to finger knit and finger crochet and came across your blog.
isn't it horribly cold? ugh. were you here in '89 for the -70F's? they finally had to shut the schools down because the bus drivers refused to drive in the ice fog. i was in high school way back then so it was great, but now that i'm the adult, i'm like, no! stop! to. much. cold.
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Beth- Blegh, I am sick of this cold, too. I have only lived here since 2003, so I missed that fun in '89. I have heard stories, though! Did you figure out how to finger crochet?
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