The “new normal” that some in Alaska’s biggest city had adapted to seemed out of reach as snow slammed into the 20s below freezing on Sunday night at the Anchorage Trail Tour.
A year ago, the lowest Anchorage temperature on the same day was nearly 40 degrees higher on the 21st, and the day’s high climbed to 2 degrees above freezing.
Anchorage hasn’t smelled a sign of freezing for two weeks.The chill that started on November 8 is only going to get colder.
Russ can feel it on the feet of his Labrador retriever.Born with stiff, greasy fur, his hot-blooded feet did not easily freeze.But at temperatures above 10 degrees below zero, depending on the dew point, those feet would melt the snow that froze almost immediately and freeze between his toes.
Long, long ago, dog boots were invented for this situation.I’m old enough to remember the late Idiatod dog driver Herbie Nayokpuk, aka Shishmaref Cannonball, showing something made of seal skins that were passed down from generation to generation by his ancestors.
Whether he ever used them, I don’t know.When seen on the trails where conditions demanded boots in the 1980s, his dog was always wearing the same cheap and expendable nylon or plush boots as everyone else’s dogs.
Russ could have used any type of booties, but I didn’t think to bring them.It seems like a long time since they were needed, but then again, it hasn’t been that long.
Credit to the adaptability and fallibility of the human brain.We adapt quickly to the recent situation as if it has always been the same.
Whether or not people accept Anchorage’s Seattle-like winter as the new normal, people want the new winter to be like the previous year’s.
2019 was the warmest year in Alaska’s history, and it continued into early 2020.On New Year’s Eve 2019, the temperature in the city was 45 degrees and it was raining, and although the temperature began to drop rapidly the next day, 2020 was relatively mild.
The Alaska Climate Center reported that this year’s average temperature was 0.4 degrees warmer than the average from 1981 to 2010, but noted that “2020 was significantly lower than the previous seven years” in the state.
Few people knew this was the start of a trend.The National Weather Service reported that Anchorage was 1.1 degrees below the year-round average at this time, and that much warming isn’t predicted anytime soon.
Temperatures are expected to climb into double digits above zero today, but head towards double digits below zero again by the weekend.
Whether this is a turning point in a period of global warming — the planet in general is warming — or the beginning of a long-term shift to old Alaska, no one can say.
But there are some signs that the old normal may return for some time.The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), a well-documented pulsation in Gulf of Alaska temperature, has cooled.
Polar Vortex and Arctic Oscillation, wrote on his blog last week.”I do think that it may have contributed to the offshore uplift that has been trough in eastern North America for most of the past decade or the west coast of North America. However, the idea that temperate sea surface temperature affects the phase and amplitude of waves in the troposphere is far from conclusive. ”
These troughs and waves—actually ripples in the atmosphere—disturb the normal west-to-east airflow around Earth as it spins through space.
Regular southwest-to-northeast wind pulses carry warm tropical air from the Pacific Ocean and transport it north to Alaska, thanks to what came to be known as the “Pineapple Express.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) describes this phenomenon as “atmospheric rivers.”In recent winters, the river has often rained in Alaska.
Cohen has proven better than most at predicting what it all means, and he hedged his bet last week.The U.S. Climate Prediction Center said temperatures in downtown Alaska could be below normal in December, January and February.
Snow lovers in Anchorage — there are many of them — might think this is a good thing, but the Climate Center is also predicting below-normal snowfall south of the Talkeetna Mountains and on the Kenai Peninsula .
Still, precipitation is expected to be closer to normal within a day’s drive north of the Anchorage metro area, as if anything is normal in Alaska.
Tagged With: #climatechange, #globalwarming, ADN, Alaska, Cohen, Cold, National Weather Service, NOAA, Seward’s Fridge
Your picture showing $2.42 per gallon is definitely old Alaska…maybe even pre-Fred Meyer or pre-pipeline.
Gas prices in Anchorage fell below $2 a gallon in Spring 2020: https://www.anchoragepress.com/bulletin/gas-prices-in-anchorage-up-2-4-cents-this-week/ article_1faaf136-993d-11ea-9160-ffb0538b510a.html
If I remember correctly (I don’t believe it because that’s why I linked above), Costo drops to around $1.75 a gallon.I do remember filling up all the machines around the house.I ran out of the last one on my chainsaw late this summer.
Hi Craig, I wish you and your family a happy, healthy and happy Thanksgiving.Thank you for your hard work on this important site.All is well, Marin
We don’t have normal here, that’s not what we do.The best we can hope for is an average, and even that can be misleading.What possible 50 years of semi-reliable weather data do we have?I think July is the only month I don’t have snow, and if I go to the right (wrong) place, I’m sure I can fix that next year.
The Weather Channel’s founder, John Coleman, called global warming a hoax.He said it had gained so much power that the only thing that would destroy it would be a few harsh winters.Glad they installed those windmills to kill the birds on Fire Island instead of a bridge so more people can enjoy it safely.
CIRI owns Fire Island.The windmills are part of a bad-looking plan to push infrastructure onto the island.Their problem is that they quickly won $$$ with the first 8 units.Phases 2 and 3 are planned, but not yet built.That doesn’t mean that if they can make money, they’re still willing to do it.
Another approach would be to set up an energy research station on Fire Island aimed at developing Bush-sized alternative and conventional energy methods.They would then have an excuse to connect the output to the Railbelt grid, install bridges/causeways, and develop the remaining land and sell it to homes and businesses.But they’re after a quick fix, which has so far prevented everything else.cheers–
It’s really amazing, I mean really amazing, how gullible and stupid millions of people are – global warming, “climate change”, Covid “we’re all going to die” brainwashing, the whole Rittenhower Stuff, Kavanaugh, Russian and Ukrainian collusion, Hunter is just a businessman sitting on a Chinese board while selling his paintings for $500,000/piece, or BLM lies, etc.According to Gore, cold is actually warm.So, it must be this…one man can blind these gullible fools to billions…oh wait…
These native sealskin dog boots are traditionally used for short distances while hunting or traveling.They were never meant to put in seventy miles day in and day out (because a day at Herbie was about a daily Iditarod run.) Herbie knew that even the softest tanned leather would leave a dog’s wrist in Strings under leather traction wear all day.So they used softer cloth and fleece.
Craig, starting in late summer, expects a 70% chance of a La Niña winter throughout the winter and spring (with rain in less than a month and wet woods).Not sure how it will end, but the past few years have seen a dramatic end to winter snowfall.
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