Bogus Heat

Today's official record high in Fairbanks is 99F in 1919, the highest temperature of record and the second warmest ever in Alaska. I am virtually certain that this is bogus, and the graphic on the left shows why. These are the maximum reported temps in late July, 1919, during what was obviously a major late summer heat wave. The 99F at Fairbanks is not only 10 degrees warmer than anywhere else, Fairbanks had three days with high temps in the 90s. No heat wave in the modern, i.e. Weather Bureau/Weather Service era, has ever had that kind of single-station anomaly during a summer heat wave. Other factors make this 99F temperature suspect, including the lateness of the season and what look to be a over-abundance of hot days in the period 1915-1919. The highest reliable temperature in Fairbanks is 96F in June, 1969.