Look at this picture. Can you tell me what's wrong here? As a (pretty much) lifelong Alaskan, I can tell you this isn't what winter is supposed to look like.
If you look at the mountains, you see spots that aren't white. That in itself is extremely unusual in February, much less the entire winter. This is the first time in my whole Alaskan experience, that I can remember, where the mountains are not fully covered in snow. Even if we get occasional "warm" days that melts the snow on the streets, the mountains are still whitewashed.
Winter came and went in the blink of an eye, almost literally. While parts of the United States are experiencing record breaking snowfall, the place where the rest of America thinks has the worst winters is actually having a "heat wave."
Here's a breakdown of what February has looked like all over Alaska. Still chilly, but not cold by any means considering Alaskan winter standards. (*Courtesy of this article in the Alaska Dispatch News)
• Kodiak reached 45 degrees, a new record despite a previous unofficial record of 46 degrees recorded in 1944.
• Anchorage reached 47 degrees, beating the previous record of 45 degrees set in 1978.
• Ketchikan reached 49 degrees, also beating its record by 1 degree.
• Juneau reported 43 degrees, which beat its old record set in 2010 by 1 degree.
• Kotzebue reached a new maximum high at 37 degrees and a new daily minimum of 33 degrees. The old maximum temperature record was set more than 100 years ago, in 1903, at 31 degrees. The previous daily minimum was set in 1942 at 22 degrees.
• King Salmon broke a record set in 1997 when it reached 49 degrees Sunday. The previous record was 46 degrees.
• Bettles reached a new record high at 33 degrees, which broke its old record set in 1977 at 25 degrees.
It didn't significantly snow in my town until December 1st. I remember this exact day because up until then I was counting down the days and figuring out when I actually needed to change my car's tires to winter ones. I changed my tires pretty early, and didn't see a sign of snow until two months later.
Not to mention, the days have been unusually clear, bright and sometimes even sunny. What's more, I'm noticing that daylight hours are getting longer. I understand that we gain daylight as the season's change, but for that to happen so quickly, in less than two months of seeing the first snowfall, is mind boggling to me.
This just goes to show that climate change, global warming, all of the shifting is real. That's pretty eye-opening and a little scary. Don't you think?
That's a look at our weather, what's happening in your neck of the woods?
(Al Roker voice)
