Warm Weather is Alaska

While much of the central and eastern U.S. was shivering, Alaskans experienced their third warmest January in 96 years of record, according to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.
Homer, Talkeetna, King Salmon, and Cold Bay (no pun intended) all chalked up their record warmest January. On Jan. 27, Port Alsworth tied the all-time January record high for the state, topping out at an incredible 62 degrees, according to Rick Thoman of the National Weather Service in Fairbanks.

Among the impacts of this warm spell:

• A closure of the Alyeska Ski Resort for two days.
• A closure of Fairbanks International Airport on Jan. 23 due to freezing rain. 
• Schools closed due to rain, not snow. (MORE: Alaska Dispatch column)

Warm air and a series of storms with heavy, wet snow, or even rain, triggered several large avalanches.

Interestingly, a wind chill of 97 degrees below zero was observed at Howard Pass on Valentine's Day, setting a new record cold wind chill for the state, previously held at Prudhoe Bay on Jan. 28, 1989 (-96F). The air temperature at that time was -42 degrees with a sustained wind of 71 mph.

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