Ice Blocks Ashore, -58 in Alaska

Carl scooped me on this article and photo, which describes some pretty awesome weather -- ice blocks up to 20 feet high and 200 feet wide are moving ashore near Barrow, Alaska this week.

High winds originating in Russia and screaming over the Pacific ocean have pushed the ice blocks on shore. This is not unprecedented but locals say they are the biggest ice ridges they've seen hit shore in more than 25 years.

In this photo provided by Arctic Photo Safari, heavy equipment removes massive ice ridges being pushed from the frozen Beaufort Sea into Barrow, Alaska, Tuesday Jan. 24, 2006. Two ice surges, known to Alaska Natives as ivus, stunned residents who had never seen such large blocks of ice rammed ashore in nearly three decades. Ivus are like frozen tsunamis and crash ashore violently. They have killed hunters and are among the Arctic's most feared natural phenomena. (AP Photo/Arctic Photo Safari, John Tidwell)

Elsewhere in Alaska, bank thermometers read -52 degrees F in Fairbanks (see also webcam). Those types of thermometers are historically inaccurate, and this geek measured only -40 F at the same time. Officially, however, the mercury dipped to -51 F at the Fairbanks, Alaska airport. But the coldest weather was at Chandalar Lake Airport and Manley "Hot" Springs, which recorded -56 and Fort Yukon which took the cake at -58.

The temperature sign at the Denali State Bank branch on Cushman Street reads 52-degrees below zero Fahrenheit as a vehicle passes in the ice fog in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Friday, Jan. 27, 2006. The official low on the day was 51-degrees below zero according to the National Weather Service forcast from the Fairbanks International Airport. Fairbanks is in the midst of a record-breaking cold snap, that will rate January 2006 as at least the fifth coldest month on record in the past 35 years. (AP Photo/ Eric Engman)