Happy Summer Solstice!
Tag Archives: Fairbanks
Weathering
From Sunday morning to Monday afternoon, my rain gauge totaled 1.9″. That’s a fair amount of precipitation for us in the Interior.
On Friday, we saw the mercury rise to 90 degrees, on Tuesday morning, I found a layer of ice on my truck’s bed cover. ICE!
One never knows what’s around the corner up here. Which, of course, is half the fun.
Mercury Rising
On Friday, as reported, the temps in Interior Alaska were in the 90’s. On Saturday, the high at my cabin was 80F, and by Sunday things had cooled down to a 54 degree high. A cool-off of 36 degrees since Friday. At the cabin, .7″ of rain fell through Sunday afternoon, which was needed.
On January 18th of this year, the low in Fairbanks was -52F. That makes a 142 degree swing this year alone, from year low to high. 142 degrees, so far…
90 Degrees
The South Fork Salcha Fire as seen from Quartz Lake
Fairbanks hit 90 degrees on Friday, which broke the record of 87 set in 1957. It was also the second earliest date, Fairbanks has seen the temperature reach 90. That record is 28 May, which was set in 1947. 90 degrees, is just too damn hot for Alaska, and those temps can stay in Texas. Luckily, temps are dropping down to a more Alaskan-like 75 for Saturday.
Lightning caused the South Fork Salcha fire, which has closed the Richardson Highway tonight near Birch Lake. The lightning strike occurred Thursday morning, and by Friday evening, the fire had reached 3600 acres. I noticed the scent of burning black spruce Friday morning, as I drove to the jobsite.
Summer has reached the Interior.
Moose Crossing
I finally made my return to the Last Frontier. On the drive home, I saw three moose. It’s good to be home.
2017 Iditarod
Race map credit: Alaska Dispatch News
The 2017 Iditarod sled dog race officially started on Monday. The race was once again moved up to Fairbanks for the start, due to sketchy snow conditions on the southern route in the Alaska Range.
The temperature was -38F along the Chena River, as the first mushers and their teams took off for Nome. One thing about March weather in the Interior, is that 30 degree plus temperature swings are common in a day, now that the sun has a little power to it, and the days have become as long as those in the Lower 48.
As of Wednesday morning, the majority of teams had reached the Tanana checkpoint, and are now traveling down the Yukon River to Ruby.
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