Saturday, September 21, 2013

The Cold Spot in Alaska

* Updated with table* 
The coldest location in the State of Alaska today was Anaktuvuk Pass (low temperature of 9°F). Looking at an entire year, I thought it would be interesting to see which station recorded the daily low temperature the most times. The first map below shows each station that recorded a statewide daily low temperature in 2012 and the count of days that the station was the state's low. In total, 72 stations recorded the daily, statewide low temperature for a calendar day. If more that one station recorded the statewide low, each station earned a tally. Therefore, even though 2012 had 366 days, adding up all the numbers on the map yields a grand total of 468. Rick communicated to me via e-mail that FAA data are not archived at NCDC (i.e., Anaktuvuk Pass, Arctic Village, etc.), so this map should be taken with a grain of salt. Also, cooperative stations usually take their temperature measurements at 7 a.m. so there is often a time of day confound. As you can see from the map, there is a concentration in the central and southeastern Interior. Remember that this map is for the entire year. The second map below shows the September 2012 daily low stations. Who can guess the station that was both the September and the annual winner for 2012?


There are companion maps for summer but I'll save those for another day.



6 comments:

  1. Looks like at or near Chisana. At 3300' its elevation is a temp killer. Been there several times flying a plane on wheels, and did the initial lake/fisheries surveys of the nearby large water bodies...Carden, Braye, Ptarmigan, and Rock. Neat country with big Lake Trout and other species.

    Snows early as many sheep hunters have discovered. And often is cold as the local residents, some friends, and gold miners know.

    Gary

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    Replies
    1. You are correct Gary. Thanks for the info about Chisana. I added the table to the end of the blog post.

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  2. Easy guess...only Nebesna/Copper-Tanada Lakes are nearby.

    The other factor affecting the Chisana (Tsetsaan' Na') area is its exposure to downslope air coursing the adjacent Chisana River drainage from glacial areas to the south.

    An early history of Chisana:

    http://www.nps.gov/wrst/historyculture/upload/chisanaminingdistricthistory.pdf

    Gary

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  3. Chisana has all the key ingredients: high elevation valley and proximate to glaciers. Kinda like McCarthy, except much higher.
    Also, if the Umiat RAWS data were available that would change the counts quite a bit.

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  4. The Alaska statewide record low temperature for the month of August was just a mile or so upstream of Chisana at Bonanza Creek.

    Here are the top numbers for the year 2000 & 1999 & 1998 (sorry for the clunky formatting):

    Station Num Min Days (2000)
    UMIAT 55
    SAG RIVER DOT 35
    SNOWSHOE LAKE 26
    CHICKEN 25
    CHANDALAR LAKE 23
    COLVILLE VILLAGE 23
    WAINWRIGHT AP 23
    BARROW POST ROGERS AP 22
    DEADHORSE AP 20
    CHISANA ALASKA 17
    NUIQSUT AP 17
    BEAVER (WBQ) ALASKA 16
    KUPARUK 14
    CHANDALAR SHELF DOT 12
    NORUTAK LAKE ALASKA 10


    Station Num Min Days (1999)
    UMIAT 39
    CHICKEN 28
    CHISANA ALASKA 26
    BEAVER (WBQ) ALASKA 25
    COLVILLE VILLAGE 24
    KUPARUK 24
    WAINWRIGHT AP 21
    BARROW POST ROGERS AP 15
    CHANDALAR LAKE 15
    NUIQSUT AP 15
    BEAVER 13
    SALCHA ALASKA 13


    Station Num Min Days (1999)
    UMIAT 51
    CHICKEN 44
    CHISANA ALASKA 44
    BEAVER 40
    BARROW POST ROGERS AP 23
    SNOWSHOE LAKE 22
    BEAVER (WBQ) ALASKA 21
    MINERAL LAKES 12
    COLVILLE VILLAGE 11
    CHALKYITSIK ALASKA 9

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  5. Umiat. Worked flying out of there during the '80's doing fisheries stuff on nearby lakes and streams. Bugs, cold, fog, and little bit of all the rest depending upon season. We had a generator building fire off at -54F one eve that only shoveled snow put out.

    Now the area's the focus of renewed energy sourcing and a potential end of the road destination.

    Link: http://umiat.com
    See: "History" for interesting commentary on the early years.

    Gary

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