January Cold Stats

Here's an abridged version of the statement highlighting the monthly records. The full version (for a while) is here.

NOAK49 PAFG 012052
PNSAFG
AKZ216-218>225-227-020915-

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
1146 AM AKST WED FEB 1 2012

...JANUARY 2012 WAS A RECORD OR NEAR RECORD COLD MONTH FOR MUCH OF
CENTRAL AND WESTERN ALASKA...

ALL OF NORTHERN ALASKA WAS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A VERY COLD AIR
MASS FOR NEARLY ALL OF JANUARY. THE GREATEST TEMPERATURE DEPARTURES
FROM NORMAL OCCURRED ACROSS THE WESTERN INTERIOR WHERE THE SKY WAS
MORE PERSISTENTLY CLEAR...WHICH ALLOWED STRONG INVERSIONS TO FORM
AND TEMPERATURES REMAINED VERY LOW FOR A PROLONGED PERIOD OF TIME.
MANY COMMUNITIES ALONG THE WEST COAST AND ACROSS THE WESTERN
INTERIOR HAD THE COLDEST OR ONE OF THE TOP FEW MONTHS ON RECORD.
THE DURATION OF THE COLD WEATHER WAS MORE NOTABLE THAN THE
ABSOLUTE MINIMUMS...AS RELATIVELY FEW DAILY RECORD LOW TEMPERATURES
WERE SET AT LOCATIONS WITH MORE THAN 50 YEARS OF WEATHER
OBSERVATIONS.

AT NOME...THIS PAST JANUARY WAS THE COLDEST ON RECORD. THE
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF -16.6 DEGREES EASILY EXCEEDED THE OLD
RECORD OF -15.2 DEGREES THAT OCCURRED IN 1989. THIS WAS NOT QUITE
THE COLDEST MONTH OF RECORD...AS FEBRUARY 1990 HAD AN AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE OF -17.2 DEGREES. FOR COMPARISON...THE NORMAL
TEMPERATURE FOR NOME DURING JANUARY IS 5.2 DEGREES ABOVE ZERO. THE
LOWEST TEMPERATURE OBSERVED DURING THE MONTH WAS 40 BELOW ON THE
5TH. THIS WAS THE FIRST 40 BELOW READING AT NOME SINCE 1999.
TEMPERATURE RECORDS AT NOME DATE BACK TO 1907.

AT KOTZEBUE...JANUARY 2012 WAS THE SECOND COLDEST SINCE 1929. THE
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF -22.6 DEGREES IS THE COLDEST SINCE 1934...
WHEN THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS -27.7 DEGREES. CONTINUOUS
TEMPERATURE RECORDS AT KOTZEBUE DATE BACK TO 1929. THE LOW
TEMPERATURE OBSERVED DURING THE MONTH OCCURRED ON THE EVENING OF
THE 31ST WITH A LOW OF 45 BELOW. THIS WAS THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE
OBSERVED AT KOTZEBUE SINCE 2006.

AT GALENA...JANUARY 2012 GOES DOWN AS THE COLDEST MONTH OF
RECORD. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF -32.6 DEGREES SURPASSED THE
-31.4 DEGREES IN 1971. THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE THIS MONTH WAS 65 BELOW
OBSERVED ON THE 29TH. NOT ONLY WAS THIS A DAILY RECORD LOW...BUT
IT WAS THE 3RD LOWEST TEMPERATURE EVER OBSERVED AT GALENA. THE
ALL-TIME LOW WAS 70 BELOW BACK IN JANUARY 1989. THERE WERE ALSO
FOUR CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITH A LOW TEMPERATURE OF 60 BELOW OR COLDER
ON THE 28TH THROUGH THE 31ST. THIS WAS ONLY OUTDONE ONCE...IN
1989...WHEN THERE WERE SIX CONSECUTIVE 60 BELOW DAYS AT GALENA.
WEATHER RECORDS AT GALENA DATE BACK TO 1942.


AT MCGRATH...THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF -28.5 IS THE COLDEST MONTH
OF RECORD. THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS -27.5 DEGREES IN JANUARY 1989.
THE LOW TEMPERATURE IN JANUARY WAS 55 BELOW ON THE 4TH. WEATHER
OBSERVATIONS HAVE BEEN MADE AT MCGRATH SINCE 1939.

AT BETTLES...THIS PAST JANUARY ENDED UP AS THE COLDEST ON RECORD.
THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF -35.6 DEGREES SURPASSED THE OLD RECORD
OF -34.0 IN 1971. THE LOW TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 61 BELOW
ON THE 31ST. THREE OF THE LAST 4 DAYS OF THE MONTH HAD A LOW
TEMPERATURE OF 60 BELOW...AND ALL THREE WERE NEW DAILY
TEMPERATURE RECORDS. THESE WERE THE FIRST 60 BELOW TEMPERATURES AT
BETTLES SINCE FEBRUARY 1999. WEATHER RECORDS AT BETTLES DATE BACK
TO 1951.

AT TANANA...THIS PAST JANUARY WAS THE COLDEST IN OVER A HUNDRED
YEARS WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF -32.6 DEGREES. ONLY 1906 WITH
AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF -36.6 DEGREES WAS ANY COLDER. THE LOW
TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH OF 61 BELOW WAS OBSERVED ON THE 28TH.
ALTHOUGH NOT A RECORD...IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THE TEMPERATURE HAD
DROPPED TO 60 BELOW OR LOWER SINCE 1993.

AT DENALI NATIONAL PARK HEADQUARTERS...THIS WAS THE COLDEST
JANUARY SINCE 1933...WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF -18.6 DEGREES
AND IS 22 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE WAS 41 BELOW
ON THE 25TH. WEATHER OBSERVATIONS HAVE BEEN MADE AT DENALI
NATIONAL PARK HEADQUARTERS SINCE DECEMBER 1922.

AT FAIRBANKS...JANUARY 2012 WAS THE FIFTH COLDEST ON RECORD WITH AN
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF -26.9 DEGREES...WHICH WAS 19 DEGREES BELOW
NORMAL. IT WAS THE COLDEST JANUARY AT FAIRBANKS SINCE 1971...AND
RANKED ONLY BEHIND 1906...1934...1966 AND 1971. THE COLDEST
TEMPERATURE OBSERVED WAS 51 BELOW ON THE 29TH. TEMPERATURE RECORDS
AT FAIRBANKS START IN SEPTEMBER 1904.

EAST OF THE FAIRBANKS AREA THIS WAS GENERALLY ONLY THE COLDEST
JANUARY SINCE 2004, AND ON THE NORTH SLOPE...TEMPERATURES IN JANUARY WERE CONSIDERABLYBELOW NORMAL BUT WERE NOWHERE NEAR RECORD COLD.

$$
CB/RT FEB 12