Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Alaska
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 10-08-2014, 07:23 AM
 
Location: Palmer/Fishhook, Alaska
1,284 posts, read 1,252,485 times
Reputation: 1974

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by Glitch View Post
I do recall a few times when it actually snowed in Malibu.

Naturally, they panicked. They shut down all the schools and the city government until the snow melted the next day. We are talking about less than an inch of snow.

I hated those fires in southern California. They are a season unto themselves. Every year when those damn Santa Ana winds start blowing, sure enough there is a wildlife or two to go with it.

Most of Alaska's fires are started by lightning, and most of the lightning can be found north of the Alaskan Range in the Interior. It needs to be a fairly warm day to produce thunder clouds, and it does not typically get that warm in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley.

Interior Alaska has summers you would be familiar with, having lived in San Fernando Valley. As a result, they get more thunderstorms and as a consequence they get the majority (and the largest) of the wildfires in Alaska.

We do have something similar to the Santa Ana winds, however. We call them the Chinook winds, and they can be hurricane force (greater than 85 mph). The Chinook winds typically hit us some time during the winter, and can warm up south central Alaska by 40°F to 50°F overnight. They last about 10 days.

During the winters the Interior is typically also the coldest in all of Alaska. There can be more than 150°F temperature difference between summer and winter in Fairbanks. Compared to Anchorage, which is lucky to see more than 100°F temperature difference. While I do love Alaska's seasons, the Interior is just a little too extreme for my tastes.
What years?

While my mom lived in Chatsworth, my dad always lived in Malibu....first Paradise Cove in the early-mid 70s, followed by Decker Canyon until his death in 1985. I don't remember there ever being snow. For us to have ever had a hope in hell of seeing any snow we had to make the drive up the Grapevine to its summit...Frasier Park. That was the closest snow to us.

Of the research I've done on Alaska, climatologically speaking, Anchorage is our best fit. It gets lots of snow EVERY winter...more cloud cover in the summertime relative to the Pacific NW, and far milder temps in the summer altogether. I read the highest temp EVER recorded in any recent history in Anchorage is 86F. It's nearly unheard of to see temps in the 80s there, and even the high 70s are not that common.

Sounds perfect. Wimpy, short summers, great winters....but I wonder what the Fall Season is like? I follow the weather up there every day so right now Anchorage is seeing temps we won't usually see here until December or January....sometimes late November. I LOVE Fall and have seen some pics of Alaska in the Fall that look quite beautiful.

Our last visit to Alaska was this past August. Hubs wanted me to see it also in the Summertime because previously we had basically only gone in the Winter....and several times to boot. We stayed in these remote little cabins in Wasilla so we got to see the drive you're talking about every time we drove to Anchorage. Also saw Seward and Kenai Fjords. Didn't want to leave the serenely grey skies and gentle 55 degree temps of Seward to return home to our 80+ degree hell.

We've also been to Fairbanks and Barrow in the wintertime. In Barrow, it was -40F as I walked around with just a pair of gloves and some thick pants on....no jacket!! I lasted about 15 minutes outside.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 10-08-2014, 04:24 PM
 
Location: Wasilla, Alaska
17,823 posts, read 23,352,469 times
Reputation: 6541
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhiannon67 View Post
What years?

While my mom lived in Chatsworth, my dad always lived in Malibu....first Paradise Cove in the early-mid 70s, followed by Decker Canyon until his death in 1985. I don't remember there ever being snow. For us to have ever had a hope in hell of seeing any snow we had to make the drive up the Grapevine to its summit...Frasier Park. That was the closest snow to us.
It does not happen often, but when it does it is memorable:

Frigid Storm Closes California Freeways, Drops Snow in Malibu | Fox News
Snow In Malibu? What Gives? - CBS News



Even San Fernando Valley gets dusted with snow on rare occasions.

It's Winter For A Day As Snow Dusts Parts Of L.a. - Los Angeles Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by rhiannon67 View Post
Of the research I've done on Alaska, climatologically speaking, Anchorage is our best fit. It gets lots of snow EVERY winter...more cloud cover in the summertime relative to the Pacific NW, and far milder temps in the summer altogether. I read the highest temp EVER recorded in any recent history in Anchorage is 86F. It's nearly unheard of to see temps in the 80s there, and even the high 70s are not that common.
I also found south central Alaska to be a good compromise, climate-wise.

We had one strange winter when Anchorage, Kentucky, had more snow and a longer, colder winter than Anchorage, Alaska. The first snowfall was not until mid-December, and by mid-February all the snow was gone. That was obviously an anomaly, because I have not experienced a winter like that since.

The Anchorage bowl averages about 76" of snowfall per winter, but that can vary significantly. A couple of winters ago we broke the record snowfall for Anchorage at 133".

You are right about the temperatures. It has gotten as warm as 80°F in Anchorage, but those are very rare days indeed. Typically, you can expect summer temperatures to be between 60°F and 70°F on sunny days, or drop a few degrees on rainy days.

Anchorage and Los Angeles get pretty close to the same amount of annual precipitation, believe it or not. Los Angeles averages 14.93", while Anchorage averages 16.57". But the rain in Anchorage is a lot different from the rain in Los Angeles. They call it "rain" in Alaska, but where I came from we called it "drizzle." Kind of a half-ass rain that can last all day, or even a couple of days. Unlike Los Angeles where the rain comes down in buckets and is over in a few hours.

I have never experienced really hard rain in Alaska like they get in Los Angeles or the mid-west, although there were a few times when it dropped small amounts of hail in Anchorage.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rhiannon67 View Post
Sounds perfect. Wimpy, short summers, great winters....but I wonder what the Fall Season is like? I follow the weather up there every day so right now Anchorage is seeing temps we won't usually see here until December or January....sometimes late November. I LOVE Fall and have seen some pics of Alaska in the Fall that look quite beautiful.
Fall is certainly the most beautiful season in Alaska. Spring is the ugliest season, by far. Personally, I consider winter to be the second most beautiful season in Alaska.

Fall is about a month and a half long, beginning at the very end of August or the very beginning of September and lasting until around mid-October. Temperatures will drop down to freezing at night, then warm up to the upper-30s or lower-40s during the day.

I always make a little road trip down the Kenai Peninsula in early September to see the fall colors. It is truly gorgeous.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rhiannon67 View Post
Our last visit to Alaska was this past August. Hubs wanted me to see it also in the Summertime because previously we had basically only gone in the Winter....and several times to boot. We stayed in these remote little cabins in Wasilla so we got to see the drive you're talking about every time we drove to Anchorage. Also saw Seward and Kenai Fjords. Didn't want to leave the serenely grey skies and gentle 55 degree temps of Seward to return home to our 80+ degree hell.

We've also been to Fairbanks and Barrow in the wintertime. In Barrow, it was -40F as I walked around with just a pair of gloves and some thick pants on....no jacket!! I lasted about 15 minutes outside.
The only downside to living in the Anchorage bowl area is that it tends to be overcast a lot. Thus blocking your view of the northern lights during the winter. The upside is that overcast days during the winter are warmer than the clear sunny days.

I would be careful when temperatures drop below -40°F. That is serious cold and can easily cause frostbite, or worse, if you are not careful. I got a case of mild frostbite once when I was hunting in Nebraska. It is extremely painful thawing out, as if the area that was frostbit was on fire. If you have never had frostbite consider yourself lucky.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-08-2014, 07:51 PM
 
Location: USA
234 posts, read 218,993 times
Reputation: 88
Quote:
Originally Posted by Glitch View Post
It does not happen often, but when it does it is memorable:

Frigid Storm Closes California Freeways, Drops Snow in Malibu | Fox News
Snow In Malibu? What Gives? - CBS News



Even San Fernando Valley gets dusted with snow on rare occasions.

It's Winter For A Day As Snow Dusts Parts Of L.a. - Los Angeles Times

I also found south central Alaska to be a good compromise, climate-wise.

We had one strange winter when Anchorage, Kentucky, had more snow and a longer, colder winter than Anchorage, Alaska. The first snowfall was not until mid-December, and by mid-February all the snow was gone. That was obviously an anomaly, because I have not experienced a winter like that since.

The Anchorage bowl averages about 76" of snowfall per winter, but that can vary significantly. A couple of winters ago we broke the record snowfall for Anchorage at 133".

You are right about the temperatures. It has gotten as warm as 80°F in Anchorage, but those are very rare days indeed. Typically, you can expect summer temperatures to be between 60°F and 70°F on sunny days, or drop a few degrees on rainy days.

Anchorage and Los Angeles get pretty close to the same amount of annual precipitation, believe it or not. Los Angeles averages 14.93", while Anchorage averages 16.57". But the rain in Anchorage is a lot different from the rain in Los Angeles. They call it "rain" in Alaska, but where I came from we called it "drizzle." Kind of a half-ass rain that can last all day, or even a couple of days. Unlike Los Angeles where the rain comes down in buckets and is over in a few hours.

I have never experienced really hard rain in Alaska like they get in Los Angeles or the mid-west, although there were a few times when it dropped small amounts of hail in Anchorage.

Fall is certainly the most beautiful season in Alaska. Spring is the ugliest season, by far. Personally, I consider winter to be the second most beautiful season in Alaska.

Fall is about a month and a half long, beginning at the very end of August or the very beginning of September and lasting until around mid-October. Temperatures will drop down to freezing at night, then warm up to the upper-30s or lower-40s during the day.

I always make a little road trip down the Kenai Peninsula in early September to see the fall colors. It is truly gorgeous.


The only downside to living in the Anchorage bowl area is that it tends to be overcast a lot. Thus blocking your view of the northern lights during the winter. The upside is that overcast days during the winter are warmer than the clear sunny days.

I would be careful when temperatures drop below -40°F. That is serious cold and can easily cause frostbite, or worse, if you are not careful. I got a case of mild frostbite once when I was hunting in Nebraska. It is extremely painful thawing out, as if the area that was frostbit was on fire. If you have never had frostbite consider yourself lucky.
Yea thats why I go in the summer. Im not a cold weather person but I do love seeing snow on trees and 40degree below, I would never leave the house.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Alaska
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top