Western U.S. Weather Blog

Share |

So Very, Very Cold In Alaska For January with Impressive Records

Feb 1, 2012; 1:33 PM ET

The month of January has gone down as one of the coldest on record for portions of Alaska, especially the central and western sections. If you live in the states and wonder where all the cold air has been, this is where some of it has been residing.

Some of the coldest low temperatures of the month occurred in the last few days.

Fort Greely: minus 50 on Jan. 29

Eagle: minus 58 on Jan. 29

Circle Hot Springs: minus 58 on Jan. 29

Kandik River: minus 64 on Jan. 29

Chicken: minus 59 on Jan. 29

Fort Yukon: minus 66 on Jan. 31

Many places had either the coldest January on record, or one of the coldest, and some places set the coldest month ever on record.

-Fairbanks: January 2012 was the fifth coldest on record with an average temperature of minus 26.9. Coldest January since 1971. Coldest low was minus 51 on Jan. 29.

-Nome: Coldest January on record with an average temperature of -16.6, records go back to 1909

-Kotzebue: Second coldest January on record and the coldest since 1934, records date back to 1929.

-Galena: January was the coldest month EVER on record with an average temperature of minus 32.6 degrees. Lowest temperature was minus 65 with four consecutive days of minus 60 degrees or lower low temperatures. Records go back to 1942.

-McGrath: Coldest month every on record with an average temperature of minus 28.5, records date back to 1939.

-Bettles: Coldest month ever on record with average temperature of minus 35.6, records dating back to 1951.

-Tanana: January 2012 is the coldest January in over 100 years, only January 1906 was colder.

-Anchorage: Averaged 14.6 degrees below normal for the month with Wasilla averaging 15.7 degrees below normal.

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or AccuWeather.com

Comments

Comments left here should adhere to the AccuWeather.com Community Guidelines. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.

More Ken Clark

  • Nothing Big This Week

    May 7, 2012; 12:29 PM ET

    For the rest of the week there will not be anything drastic going on in the West.

  • Lake Mead Water Levels Dropping

    Apr 27, 2012; 12:40 PM ET

    Despite a late-season surge in precipitation across a large part of the West, Lake Mead is still expected to experience noticeably lower levels

  • Another Late-Season Storm at Midweek

    Apr 23, 2012; 12:28 PM ET

    A combination of two separate storms will bring much of the West a round of wet, cool weather for Wednesday into Thursday.

  • Huge Temperature Gradient

    Apr 20, 2012; 12:36 PM ET

    Most coastal areas are only in the low to mid 60s but it warms to the 80s in the eastern coastal cities and the 90s in the valleys.

  • Summerlike Weather by Weeks End

    Apr 16, 2012; 12:45 PM ET

    This ridge will likely bring well above-normal temperatures by Friday into the weekend for areas away from the Pacific waters.

  • Two California Late-Season Storms

    Apr 10, 2012; 12:36 PM ET

    some welcomed rainfall levels of between 1/2 to 1 inch over central California with nearly the same amounts around the Los Angeles Basin.

  • Storms Return Next Week

    Apr 6, 2012; 12:42 PM ET

    In fact what is so scary about this long range forecast is how much the models agree.

About This Blog

Ken Clark
Ken Clark's Western U.S. weather blog tackles daily weather events with commentary from one of the most experienced and trusted Western U.S. weather experts.

AccuWeather.com Bloggers

5/28/2012 11:16:11 PM /blog-entry.asp 4 .75.117 (accuweather)-- [new]