Minus 80 Degrees in Alaska? Would have been a record but thermometer breaks!

Jim River, AK closed in on the all time record coldest temperature of -80°F set in 1971, which is not only the Alaska all-time record, but the record for the entire United States. Unfortunately, it seems the battery died in the weather station just at the critical moment.

Where I live, we're setting record HIGH temperatures. Obviously not in Alaska. Weird, weird winter.

Alaska and Canada have been suffering through some of the coldest temperatures on record during the last week.

I'm curious as to how our members in Alaska are faring.

Can you go outside when it's that cold? Are things cancelled? What's your heating bill like? What is life like when it gets that cold outside?

The moisture in your eye balls freezes, lips crack and bleed, extremities go numb quick, and your tongue becomes stiff at those temperatures without decent gear.

If the mercury in the thermometer breaks it, take that liquid to your local dentist so they can reuse it for fillings!

Originally posted by JibbyJedi
If the mercury in the thermometer breaks it, take that liquid to your local dentist so they can reuse it for fillings!

Your joking right..... :/ Mercury is ...... Your joking right? :s

I remember a number of -50 and -60 days and LOTS of -10 and -20 days in the Fairbanks area some years back....

Thus the reason why when 20-30 degrees rolls around....everyone is wearing shorts!

But yeah, they can keep their -85....I will take my sunny 60 Colorado weather like today!

oh and by the way....residents up there have to (should) winterize their vehciles....so if a vehcile is left outside, you literally plug it in to an outlet....for your engine block heater.....

I know at the air force base there....the flightline crew would be out working on the jets up to -40....then they had to come inside....

Just checked weather channel.
Temps in Alaska today -30 to -10
Ice fishing weather!
Peace.

I saw a demonstration of what that kind of cold is like in a documentary once. Someone had a cup of boiling water and threw the water into the air and it instantly turned into vapor

I used to live in the very north of the UK in the mountains and when it got lower than -25c we could dry our washing by putting it out on the washing line and then 15 mins later just hit it with a stick the ice dropped off and it was dry.

reply to post by ionsoul


Here is the source:

wattsupwiththat.com...

reply to post by PhoenixOD

I used to live in the very north of the UK in the mountains and when it got lower than -25c we could dry our washing by putting it out on the washing line and then 15 mins later just hit it with a stick the ice dropped off and it was dry.

That's amazing! I never heard that before...

reply to post by MRuss

Alaska and Canada have been suffering through some of the coldest temperatures on record during the last week.

This winter hasn't been as cold this year yet as last year, where I am (Saskatchewan). They must mean way up north near Alaska. So far the coldest here has been around -30C for a few days. It's back up to -10ish. We usually have the temperatures like the north, here. Last year we had a lot of -40C temperatures with wind chill in the -50s.

I have to haul my own water, a 200 gallon tank in the back of the truck. When it's really cold, the nozzles all ice up, and I take a long hose from my hot water washer connection outside to stick into the nozzle to unfreeze it. Hot water comes back at you - not fun getting wet at -30 . The hot water freezes so fast, that my jeans, and jacket, boots etc, had a thick layer of ice all over, when I took them off in the bathroom, my long underwear was still completely dry.

There's a layer of ice all over the inside of the garage now also
Very slippery.
Last year, my garage floor raised up 6 inches in places, from me making such a mess with the water. At least it drops back down in the summer months.

reply to post by MRuss


Wow..

Minus 80.

I think everything would drop or snap off at that temperature....eek!!

Ya wouldn't want to take a countryside comfort break in that now would you.

Cosmic..

Originally posted by MRuss
I'm curious as to how our members in Alaska are faring.

Can you go outside when it's that cold? Are things cancelled? What's your heating bill like? What is life like when it gets that cold outside?

Its -42 here in the northwest, wind chill was about -55. Its been a cold couple of weeks, only had 2 days of nice warm weather. Then cold weather again.

When it gets too cold the bush planes dont fly. If its -40 or below our school teams wont travel anywhere. And yes, school still goes on when its this cold.

reply to post by MRuss

Fairbanks is about 400 miles north, so it's not as cold where I live. It was -25F yesterday. It "warmed up" to zero today!

Our house is in a rural community, and we heat with natural gas. Electricity is needed with that process. Together, the cost is about $400-500/month during the winter. We have a fireplace and two cords of wood for backup. This house is well insulated, and the first floor is a half-buried walk-out basement. In outlying areas, there are small homes and cabins that are poorly insulated, and the heat source is heating oil. I've known people whose heating costs were $800-1000/month during the winter.

Throwing boiling water in the air and watching it turn to vapor . . . apparently that happens at -50 and below. At minus 40, though, half of it turns to vapor and the other half makes a sound like falling fireworks as it freezes on the way to the ground. It was such a novel experience the first time I tried it that I ran in and out of the house half a dozen times with cups of boiling water just to see it again and again.

The chilled eyeballs is also a unique experience and is funny (if you know you can be in a warm place in a few minutes). The eyeballs get cold very quickly, but the body doesn't sense it until you blink. Then your warm eyelids say "woah!"

Originally posted by Aktulu

Originally posted by MRuss
I'm curious as to how our members in Alaska are faring.

Can you go outside when it's that cold? Are things cancelled? What's your heating bill like? What is life like when it gets that cold outside?

Its -42 here in the northwest, wind chill was about -55. Its been a cold couple of weeks, only had 2 days of nice warm weather. Then cold weather again.

When it gets too cold the bush planes dont fly. If its -40 or below our school teams wont travel anywhere. And yes, school still goes on when its this cold.

not only that...the schools let kids have recess when its -10 out just SOUNDS crazy!! but you really adapt to those temps...really!

Love this thread! I'm blown away by your posts. Minus 10 and the kids are out at recess!

Truly a testament to the fact that "it's all relative."

It must seem warm around 0!

I can't imagine the liquid in my eyeballs freezing.

I once skied in a dangerous temperature in Vermont... it was just a bit below zero. And I got frost bite in my ears that did some damage.

I'd be a whimp in Alaska.

Originally posted by PhoenixOD
I used to live in the very north of the UK in the mountains and when it got lower than -25c we could dry our washing by putting it out on the washing line and then 15 mins later just hit it with a stick the ice dropped off and it was dry.

Since when has it ever got to - 25º in the north of england???
I was born in Hull on the north east coast and we'd get the wind and snow directly from siberia, and it never got to - 25º !!
The lowest it ever got was in January 1982, when it dropped to -11º..nothing near - 25º.

The lowest daily minimum temp in the UK was in 1982 , -26º, and that was in Newport in Shropshire...a long way from the north, with the lowest daily maximum temp being in the same place, Newport, at - 11º.

MET OFFICE HISTORIC WEATHER EXTREMES FOR ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND

The lowest ever temp in SCOTLAND was in 1895 in Braemerm Aberdeenshire, recorded at -27.2º.

reply to post by greeneyedleo


I remember those days GEL, I remember doing field training and sleeping in GP medium tents with a windchill of -60 or -70

ETA: I remember going to the mess hall in shorts when it warmed up to a balmy 0 degrees

Originally posted by HomerinNC
reply to post by greeneyedleo

 

I remember those days GEL, I remember doing field training and sleeping in GP medium tents with a windchill of -60 or -70

did you do artic survival at eielson?

reply to post by greeneyedleo


nope, was stationed at Ft Wainwright 6th ID, 4/123d AVN

reply to post by MRuss


Just FYI......-80°F is about -62°C, for our friends who use the Celsius scale.

-62°C is pretty typical for altitudes of about 39,000 to 41,000 feet, even at temperate latitudes.

At that point, so darn cold, stay out of the wind, whatever you do!

Here's what I find fascinating, since this topic piqued my interest:

Antarctica Climate Data and Climate Graphs
McMurdo, Amundsen-Scott (South Pole) and Vostok Stations

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