National Parks Week:

Happy Earth Day

The revamped Yukon Quest race had its start on Saturday morning. It was a balmy -45F at the first mush.

Officially, Fairbanks dropped to -50F that morning. It was our first “official” -50 since 2017. It was the third morning at the cabin during this cold snap, that I saw -50 on my thermometer. For some reason, my cabin is not considered the official weather station for Fairbanks. For purely political reasons, that honor lies with the Fairbanks International Airport.
Speaking of streaks broken: I broke my previous record for distance traveled with “thumpity-thumpity-thumpity” coming from my tires. For those left out in the heat, tires make that sound after a flat spot forms where they met the driveway during extreme cold temps. It usually only takes a few hundred yards for the tires to warm up enough to reform, but in fifty below, the flat spot lingers for a mile or so.

Friday, January 19th, was the first day since autumn, that I noticed light still in the sky when I drove home. It wasn’t much, and it didn’t last long, but it was there! Granted, I actually left work on time, but I’m counting the sighting as a moral win.
Our current length of day is 5 hrs, 40 mins, with length of visible light at 7 hrs, 53 mins.
That’s the good news.
As I type this, it it -28F outside, with a low tonight of -38F. The high on Monday is alleged to be -30F. Luckily, the temperature on Monday night should only drop down to -34F.
You may now go back to griping about your weather in the Lower 48.