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As I have stated in other threads, I'd love to spend a year in Alaska. (Possibly make a permanent move if I like it well enough). One of my top areas is Fairbanks, for I love cold weather, and snow. And the summers get a bit warmer than other areas I am looking into, such as Anchorage and Wasilla, which I also like. (Summer should hit at least 70s if not 80s. But the rest of the year, I like the cooler weather!).
So I have a few questions regarding the weather in Fairbanks.
First off, as much as I love cold, I'm wondering if many consider Fairbanks and its surrounding areas TOO cold! The average HIGH temperature is 2 degrees in January! Must be minus temperatures every day! I saw the record colds get into -50s and -60! How often do temps get THAT low? Hell, -20 even sounds very cold. Is there ever a point where it is just so cold that getting even colder doesn't seem to matter much or make much a difference? I have never experienced any temperatures lower than the teens.
And what is freezing fog like? I've seen pictures, looks cool but sounds like one of those colds that chills you to down to the bones if you're not properly dressed for it.
When it comes to daytime highs, when do you normally experience the first day that it doesn't get above freezing? How about the normal first day it gets above freezing again?
Now let's do the same question but with overnight lows.
In summer, how many days would you say it is in the 70s? How about the 80s? Does it ever hit 90? (I see record highs are in the 90s, so obviously it does and has before, it is it normal to have one or two days of 90 or more, or is that more like a once in every few years type of temperature?)
How is overall humidity between the seasons up there?
How do gardens fair? I'm sure all the sunlight in summer is great for most, and cold frames in early spring and late fall? I would be growing peas, corn, lettuce, carrots, and flowers, mainly.
I see that summer contains the highest rainfall amounts, with the most days of cloudy skies. How bad is it, really? I'm sure that there are still plenty of warm, clear days to be had? (In another thread were discussing summer swimming, even as far north as Fairbanks, so I'm sure very nice and warm days are frequent enough.....)
What is the average snowfall, and when does the first snow usually fall, and when does the snow usually stop falling going into spring? I absolutely LOVE snow. My favorite.
And when are the typical first and last frosts?
Another one of my favorites: thunderstorms! Would I be able to enjoy the occasional thunderstorm up there? I love seeing the lighting and hearing that roaring, rumbling thunder which follows! A bit of a hail storm in the middle of it is never a bad thing, either!
And lastly, how much sunlight do you receive around the winter solstice? I once talked to someone who spent a few years up there, and she said the sun didn't even rise at all on the solstice. Is this an exaggeration or a reality? (I know that summer solstice is almost all daylight, midnight sun and all, with only twilight and no real darkness between sunset and sunrise).
Thanks all for in advance for answers to any or all of these questions! (All I'd have to do next is convince my wife! We want to move, but Eastern WA looks like the place, and even that's a compromise for her! I still get my cold and snow in winter, and summers are long and hot. Not that I would mind the extremes, because I wouldn't. I would love the four distinct seasons. But truth be told, given a choice, I'd rather take a slightly cooler, shorter summer for a longer winter. She wants a perpetual summer. ICK!).
PS, I have looked at the city-data page for Fairbanks, as well as a few other places around the net, but averages and such don't always tell the whole story. Just looking for answers straight from the people who live in and around the area, and can give a more detailed answer than what a graph of averages can say.
So I have a few questions regarding the weather in Fairbanks.
What you need is some perspective on Fairbanks weather!
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First off, as much as I love cold, I'm wondering if many consider Fairbanks and its surrounding areas TOO cold!
It isn't "TOO" cold, it's "DAMNED" cold.
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The average HIGH temperature is 2 degrees in January! Must be minus temperatures every day! I saw the record colds get into -50s and -60! How often do temps get THAT low? Hell, -20 even sounds very cold. Is there ever a point where it is just so cold that getting even colder doesn't seem to matter much or make much a difference? I have never experienced any temperatures lower than the teens.
You need to stop claiming that you like cold. You've never seen cold!
First, ignore "average" temps in Fairbanks, because it's never there for very long. All winter long the temperature swings from relatively close to a record cold to relatively close to a record high. Usually, though not always, the transition between the two takes only a couple days. Hence one week it might be that -48F is as warm as it gets, and the next week it might be that +22F is as cold as it gets. Neither is quite a record, and the average is -13F, which is a really pleasant temperature.
Also you need to be aware that the temperatures for Fairbanks are recorded at the Fairbanks International Airport, and that just accidentally happens to be one of the warmer places in the entire area. The tops of local hills are warmer (most of them at 2000 or 3000 feet never get colder than -20F or so). But the river valley is colder in most places. For example as you travel south on the Richardson Highway, North Pole is almost always significantly colder than reported for Fairbanks... and so is Eielson AFB and Salcha.
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And what is freezing fog like? I've seen pictures, looks cool but sounds like one of those colds that chills you to down to the bones if you're not properly dressed for it.
That misses the point. It's just a dry cold. Not a big deal as far as dressing for it. The problem is that you have to drive in it! You can't see the road signs, you just have to know where you are. Driving down a highway is absolutely scary, because you know there is a car ahead of you that you can't see and there is one behind you that can't see you. Sometimes you'll notice that the fog suddenly got much thicker... and that probably means you are behind a big truck or a bus and have gotten just a little too close!
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When it comes to daytime highs, when do you normally experience the first day that it doesn't get above freezing? How about the normal first day it gets above freezing again?
Now let's do the same question but with overnight lows.
Don't be concerned about daily high/low variations. There will be stretches where you won't see warmer than -45F for several days. There might be weeks where you won't see warmer than -20F.
The rest of your questions can all be answered with Google.
Wow okay I guess I like warm then. Toasty teens and twenties! Lol. Good to know about the reports being warmer than what it really is in town. Still something I'd like to experience. I look forward to freezing temps every winter. I look forward to snow every winter. Always sad when they are gone... if they even come at all. Thanks for the reply!
Fairbanks is still topping my list so far! (Other areas on the list are Anchorage, Wasilla, and Palmer)
Anywhere in the interior of Alaska is going to experience more extremes, as far as temperature is concerned, than the coastal areas. Temperatures around the Fairbanks area during a given winter will drop to -50°F or colder once or twice the entire winter, but usually that kind of cold only lasts a few days. This is when the ice-fog appears. At -50°F the water vapor in the atmosphere freezes. However, it is not uncommon for temperatures to drop below 0°F and stay there for a month or more. If you are not properly prepared for the cold it would be more than just "bone chilling," it would be fatal. After a month or more of -20°F or colder temperatures, when it finally gets up to 0°F it feels like short-sleeve weather.
Summer temperatures around Fairbanks are often 70°F or warmer. This past August Fairbanks reached 94°F and nearby North Pole peaked at 97°F. The humidity levels are also higher the further away you are from the coast. Because of its geography, the vast majority of the thunderstorms during the summer months are located in the Interior. The Matanuska-Susitna Valley has far fewer thunderstorms. During many years there have been no thunderstorms at all in the Valley. Unfortunately, the lightening from those thunderstorms are the primary cause of fires in Alaska, with the vast majority of the biggest fires occurring in the Interior.
Just as you can tell the difference between +70°F and +90°F, you can tell the difference between -20°F and -40°F.
The Matanuska-Sustina Valley is roughly 20°F warmer than the Interior during the winter, and about 20°F cooler during the summer.
As far as "daylight" and "overnight" highs and lows Fairbanks only gets about 3 hours of daylight by Winter Solstice, and 21 hours of daylight by Summer Solstice. So "daylight" and "overnight" do not mean much. If you are trying to ascertain if there is much of a variance between the temperatures at noon and midnight, the answer would be "not much." The humidity keeps the temperature within about 10°F difference between noon and midnight during the summer and winter.
Fairbanks is not far enough north to be in total darkness by Winter Solstice. For that, you need to be above 67°N (Arctic Circle). During Winter Solstice the sun rises at about 11:00 AM and sets around 2:00 PM. During Summer Solstice, the sun rises around 4:00 AM and sets around 1:00 AM.
Growing peas, lettuce, carrots, and certain flowers during the summer will not be a problem, but the corn would be a problem. The growing season is not long enough for corn, unless you start them in a greenhouse by early May. That is also true for tomatoes, peppers, and onions.
First frost in the Interior is anywhere from late-August to early-September. Fairbanks has had snow on the ground by September 1st, but that does not happen often. Last frost is not until late-May, and many areas are covered with permafrost that never melts, but it is typically several feet below the surface. The average snowfall for the winter in Fairbanks is about 65". In Anchorage, it averages about 76".
The Interior has more sunny, cloudless days than the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. And yes, it does get warm enough to swim in the local lakes during the summer.
This is when the ice-fog appears. At -50°F the water vapor in the atmosphere freezes.
It isn't so much that water vapor freezes, as that the temperature is so low that the air cannot hold any significant amount of water vapor. So the moisture in the air condenses out. It's just a cloud. Of course it all freezes as it condenses, so it's a cloud of ice particles.
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Summer temperatures around Fairbanks are often 70°F or warmer. This past August Fairbanks reached 94°F and nearby North Pole peaked at 97°F.
To put that in perspective, temperatures can reach the 90+ mark in at least four months of the summer, though usually that only happens in July and August.
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The humidity levels are also higher the further away you are from the coast.
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If you are trying to ascertain if there is much of a variance between the temperatures at noon and midnight, the answer would be "not much." The humidity keeps the temperature within about 10°F difference between noon and midnight during the summer and winter.
I thought the first statement above was a typo, but given the second one it might not be??
The humidity in the Interior is vastly lower than the humidity closer to the coasts. That is specifically the reason there are thunderstorm and the reason those storms cause fires. Everything is dry, dry, dry! Fairbanks is an arid area, almost as dry as a desert. The area gets about 10 inches of "equivalent rainfall", which includes snow, per year. That is relatively the same as the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona for example. It is not unusual in Fairbanks to have a relative humidity that is lower than 30%, and it may even get down to 10%.
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Fairbanks is not far enough north to be in total darkness by Winter Solstice. For that, you need to be above 67°N (Arctic Circle). During Winter Solstice the sun rises at about 11:00 AM and sets around 2:00 PM. During Summer Solstice, the sun rises around 4:00 AM and sets around 1:00 AM.
All basically true. There is some interesting trivia though. The Arctic Circle is actually at 66.5622 degrees. But that is where the center of the sun is on the horizon during the summer solstice. At 65.80 degrees the sun goes below the horizon, and at 65.81 degrees not all of it does.
Fairbanks is at 64.84 degrees, so it is almost 1 full degree south of where the sun is visible 24 hours a day on the summer solstice. The sun is "down" for 3 hours, but they also play a baseball game that starts at midnight and does not require artificial lights (though it does get really dim on cloudy nights).
PS, I have looked at the city-data page for Fairbanks, as well as a few other places around the net, but averages and such don't always tell the whole story. Just looking for answers straight from the people who live in and around the area, and can give a more detailed answer than what a graph of averages can say.
Sounds like Minnesota is more of what you are looking for. Pleanty of teens and 20's in the winter, pleanty of snow (although we got alot of rain last winter) It usually snows from early December to late March with a few earlier and later snow events, hot-humid summers with a ton of thunderstorms. Many lakes, all of which are warm enough to swim in. My garden also grows over half the year, Ive been having fresh tomotoes since June and their still going! No mountains though.
Yea, a few years ago, 03-05, somewhere in there I think, we went for 3 weeks solid that the high never got warmer then -40. We normally get a few cold snaps of -40 and colder but normally they don't last more then a few days to a week.
I hear that corn wont grow here because it needs darkness.
The attached photos will give you an idea what "cold" is. The first one is at my house in North Pole. The second is in Fairbanks and the bottom one is from Tok.
The attached photos will give you an idea what "cold" is. The first one is at my house in North Pole. The second is in Fairbanks and the bottom one is from Tok.
So, if you live in the Fairbanks area, and fall out of bed at night, your pajamas break?
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The first one is at my house in North Pole. The second is in Fairbanks and the bottom one is from Tok.
