The village of Utqiagvik is the northernmost “city” in the United States. On Wednesday, the sun set at 1:30pm, and it will rise again in the new year on January 23.
In contrast, Fairbanks saw the sun rise at 9:39am on Wednesday, and saw it set at 3:35pm. For a length of day of 5 hrs 55 mins, and 8 hrs 5 mins of visible daylight. Thursday will see 6 mins and 19 secs of less daylight.
Only a month more of losing daylight for Fairbanks, but another 66 days for Utqiagvik to turn that corner.
November was a warm month across the State of Alaska. With the lack of sea ice, Utqiagvik was a staggering 16.1 degrees above normal for the month. By comparison, Fairbanks was a modest 10.6 degrees above normal for November.
Graph credit: ACCAP
Sea ice in the Chukchi Sea was at the lowest level ever recorded for November. In fact, sea ice was at such a low level, that it was below the daily average levels for entire summers prior to 2001.
November highlights: Data credit: NOAA; Graphic credit: @AlaskaWx
Some highlights for the month statewide:
The final week of the month hit the village of Bettles, with a record 3-day snowfall of 28.3″. That same storm also set the 2-day record.
Anchorage, Cold Bay and Kodiak all saw their warmest November on record, while Utqiagvik experienced its second warmest.
On Thanksgiving morning the temperature in Fairbanks was 33F, which is only the seventh time in 116 years that Fairbanks saw above freezing temperatures on that day.
Nome had no snow on the ground during November, yet Chulitna received 78.5″!
Kotzebue continues its streak of above average temperatures for the 27th consecutive month.
One of the advantages of being self-employed, is that most people do not want you working on their homes during a holiday week.
Which means I get some time to play in the snow. More is coming to the Interior. It should start up again Tuesday night, and snow right through Thanksgiving, and on into Friday morning.
Nice.
The high temperature in Fairbanks is expected to rise to 28F on Thanksgiving Day, with a low of 21F.
The average high temp for the day is +7F, with an average low of -10F. The warm weather is expected to last into the middle of next week.
——————————————————-
Utqiagvik Streak Ends
Graphic credit: NOAA
Utqiagvik (Barrow) Alaska had an incredible run of 152 days in a row with the daily average temperature above normal. The streak ended on November 25, when the temperature hit the daily average.
A runway inspector at the airport in Utqiagvik, the community formerly known as Barrow, had a couple of possible stowaways the other day. No word on where they were attempting to fly to.
