Winter Temperature Recap For Fairbanks

February 2013 is in the books, so here is an updated plot of temperatures this winter in Fairbanks. The frequently above normal temperatures since late December were not enough to offset the deep cold early in that month, resulting in an average temperature for core winter, December through February of -7.3ºF. This is significantly below normal but several winters recently have been colder. The departure of -4.9ºF for the November through February is more much significant. This is the coldest such period since 1998-1999 and  third coldest since the 1976 PDO shift (1989-90, which also featured a very cold November, is the coldest Nov-Feb period since 1976, at -9.0ºF).