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| Don enjoying the first fire of the winter season |
Fairbanks began its never-ending winter right on time this year. Our first snowfall hit around October 3rd and 4th and has continued since. It’s not too cold yet – we’re hovering at around 19° to 32° F. The real heinous temperatures (-40° F to -50° F) will hit more around December and January (last year it was -36° F on Christmas Eve and -53° on Christmas Day!)
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| Brrrrrrr! |
I’m one of the few people who love the winter, the cold, and the snow. I think snow is one of the most beautiful things in the entire world and I look forward to it each year. Caroline is beside herself as to why I think this way. She becomes visually upset and troubled any time I talk about how much I like the snow. We have an agreement to not speak about the snow. So Caroline, if you’re reading this post, stop.
We have loooooooooong winters here, which is fine with me, but causes everyone else massive annoyance and anxiety. Our winters usually last from October until late April/early May.We get large amounts of heavy snow during the early months, with snow usually stopping around January just because it gets way too cold for it to snow. We usually then get another large helping of snow in April and May as the temperatures start to rise again.
Fairbanks has an incredibly unique climate with some of the largest temperature swings in the world. The summers, which usually last from May to September, get anywhere between 50° F to well into the 90°’s. The winters (October to April), get anywhere between -60° F to 10° F, with extremes dipping down to -75° F. The lowest recorded temperature in the United States occurred in Alaska at
Prospect Creek on January 23, 1971 with a frightening -80° F recorded. This wide temperature range is primarily due to where Fairbanks sits – we are at the bottom of the Tanana Valley, where cold air can sit and gather for months on end. Additionally, our high latitude location limits the amount of sunlight we get (only 3 hours and 43 minutes at the winter solstice), so the snowpack stays through May. Large temperature inversions also create ice fog, which is incredibly dangerous. We also often get icy rain, which sticks to your windshield like glue and causes difficult driving conditions.
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| Outside Andy’s office |
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| Looking out towards the Chena River. Eventually this will be completely frozen. |
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| The Fairbanks courthouse |
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| Alaska Sibera WWII Statue |
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And since this blog is never complete without interjecting an animal into it, here is a
duck in the snow. |
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| Even Don played in the snow this weekend! |
One of the many reasons why I love winter is the many opportunities we get to see the beautiful Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis. From what I’ve researched online, the vivid colors that appear in the sky on dark, cold winter nights are caused by the collision of solar winds and magnetospheric charged particles with the atmosphere. The aurora comes in six main colors, all of varying rarity. The most common is green, which is the only one I’ve seen. This is followed by red (seen with more intense solar activity); yellow and pink, and blue/purple, the rarest. Recently Andy caught some great pictures outside our house.
One of Andy and my favorite places to go to try to catch a glimpse of the lights is Chena Hot Springs Resort, located about an hour from Fairbanks. They have a nice restaurant and bar, a hotel, and a large outdoor natural springs rock pool perfectly situated to see the Northern Lights. I love going in the winter when its -40°; you freeze your butt off running to the springs, and it feels soooo good to get in and warm back up! The top of your hair creates icicles too!
Fairbanks residents are really into the Aurora Borealis and take great pride in being the best and most exclusive place in the United States to see them. Ronn Murray Photography, a husband and wife photography team in Fairbanks maintains a wonderfully sophisticated website with an Aurora cam situated on Murphy Dome right outside of Fairbanks; you can get on their website and see a live camera of the Northern Lights. This is great for out-of-staters, or anyone in Alaska who has a compromised view. See it here.
Additionally, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute has a website that updates you daily on the likelihood of aurora viewing, the best places in the state to see it, travelers guides, maps, and detailed illustrations and descriptions of the aurora and the best times to see it. They have a mobile app as well. They rate the visibility on a moderation scale, ranging from 0 to 9, with 0-2 being low, 3-5 being moderate, and 6-9 being high. This is a great website for people who do not live in Alaska because while Alaska is the best place in the United States to see the Northern Lights, it is surely not the only place; however, due to the rest of the country’s lower latitude placement, the ability and chance to see the lights are significantly diminished. As a result, if you live outside the state of Alaska, you want more precise and pinpointed predictions as to when and where you can see them. This website allows you to select an entire map of North America (as well as other parts of the world), and determine what moderation level the aurora needs to be at for you to be able to see the lights from your particular location. For example, if you click on it today (October 6, 2014), here are the required levels and locations outside of Alaska, with more specificity within the United States:
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Level 0/Minimal Auroral Activity; you need to live in Yellowknife, Canada or higher
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Level 1/Quiet Auroral Activity; you need to live in Gillam, Canada or higher
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Level 2/Low Auroral Activity; you need to live in Fort McMurray, Canada or higher
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Level 3/Moderate Auroral Activity; you need to live in Edmonton, Canada or higher
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Level 4/Active Auroral Activity; you need to live in Winnepeg, Canada or higher
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Level 5/High Auroral Activity (or higher);
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Very Northeastern corner of Montana
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Northern North Dakota, Minnesota, and Michigan
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Level 6/High + Auroral Activity; you need to live in (or higher);
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Very Northeastern corner of Washington state
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Very Northern tip of Idaho, New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont
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Mid Montana and Wisconsin
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Northern South Dakota and Michigan
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Almost all of Maine, Minnesota
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All of North Dakota
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Level 7/High ++ Auroral Activity; you need to live in (or higher);
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Northeastern corner of Oregon
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Mid Idaho and Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio
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Southern Wyoming
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Very Northern point of Missouri
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All of Washington, Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Massachussetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine
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Level 8/High +++ Auroral Activity; you need to live in (or higher)
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Very Northern point of California
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Northern Nevada, Oklahoma, and Arkansas
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Mid Utah
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Almost all of Colorado
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Most of North Carolina
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All of Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky
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Level 9/Maximum Auroral Activity; you need to live in (or higher)
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Almost all of California, Arizona, and New Mexico
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Mid Texas
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Northern Florida
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All of Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and South Carolina
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Places in the United States where the Northern Lights are never visible:
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Southern Texas and Florida
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Very southernmost points of California, Arizona, and New Mexico
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Hawaii
It’s one of the most beautiful things in the world! This post is dedicated to my Great-Grandmother Dorothy Ceci, who passed away on Saturday, October 4, 2014. One of those bright green dancing lights in the sky is her, I’m sure. We miss you, Grandma.
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Thank you Allison, she would really have enjoyed your dedication.
MOM