Baby, It's Cold Outside In Alaska!

Gakona, Alaska. The low light of noon, December 24th, 2017 at 24 degrees below zero.

Bearfoot Looks At The Temperature In Two Parts of Alaska

At Noon On The Very Same Day

Occasionally, in the middle of winter, somebody like Al Roker on the Today Show will announce in wonder: "It's colder down here today than in Alaska!"

Nice try. What Lower 48 weathermen are noting is that in brief, and rare, times a "Chinook" sweeps over Alaska. And the Arctic Express of frigid air that usually stretches across the entire northland is dislodged. It wafts south, dipping into the continental United States. 

When that band hits the upper Midwest, it gives Alaska something of a reprieve. Relatively warm air rushes in to fill the gap.

Especially in Anchorage, and the lower coastal towns of Alaska, which are moderated by the closeness to the open waters of the Pacific. 

And that is when it's colder in Montana than in Alaska…

On December 24th, 2017, at noon, you could see Alaska's enormous (and typical) winter temperature swings. In Anchorage at that time it was +22. At our house, in Gakona/Gulkana it was a full 46 degrees colder. The thermometer was standing at -24. 

That's a big difference. It's the difference between +22 and room temperature -- or 68 degrees above zero.