The Coldest Month
By MARY BETH SMETZER, Staff Writer
If the next four days are as unrelentingly cold as the past week, January 2006 may claim the bronze--third place overall--as the coldest month on record since 1971, reports the scientific crew over at the National Weather Service Fairbanks station.
As of the 25th of this month, the average temperature has been 19.2 degrees below zero. With no relief in sight, January 2006 will rate at least the fifth coldest month in the past 35 years.
Non-scientific souls may gauge record low temperature lows by the thickness of the ice fog or the performance of their vehicle, when it lurches, stalls or just plain won't start.
But Weather Service meteorologists not only monitor and forecast the weather, but average out record cold temperatures based on more than a century of Fairbanks weather data--102 years to be exact.
The average January temperature for all those years works out to 10.1 below zero; the average high is 1.6 below and the average low is 18.5 below.
"January is, on average, the coldest month of the year in Fairbanks," said Meteorologist Don Aycock in a statement released Thursday.
The coldest month of record for Fairbanks was exactly a century ago, when the temperature averaged out to 36.4 below for the 31 days of January 1906. Second coldest was December 1917, and third coldest January 1971 with an average of 31.7 below.
Since 1971, February 1979 takes first place with an average temperature of 25.3 below, followed by December 1980 in second place with 24 below. February 1990 places third coldest with 21.7 below with fourth and fifth coldest months listed as January 1989, 21.2 below and January 1973, 18.2 below, respectively.
According to Aycock, January 2006 stands a good chance to displace February 1990 to be the third coldest month since 1971, as well as making it the coldest January in 35 years. And there is a possibility, though remote, that this month could displace December 1980 and take second place. That would mean, the average daily temperature through the end of January would have to hover around 44 below.
Thursday, only nine degrees separated the high and low marks on the official airport weather temperature gauge. High was reported as 40 below and low as 49 below, said Scott Berg, a Weather service hydrometerological technician.
However, there were reports of 60 below from observer stations in areas around Fairbanks, including Two Rivers, Goldstream Valley, and the East side of North Pole.
Fort Yukon and Chandalar Lake also computed 60 below temperatures.
Today's expected high is 40 below with a low of 48 below.
Area residents should prepare for a long, cold weekend with similar low temperatures to continue through Sunday night. A slight warming and possible high of 25 below on Monday is a possibility.
"It is not going to warm significantly," warned Berg.
The only school in the district to have frozen water pipes on Thursday was Salcha Elementary School, said Ann Shortt, the superintendent for the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District. The school has two water systems: one for drinking and one for flushing. The drinking water pipe froze.
"We've got plenty of bottled water," Shortt said. "It was just something we had to deal with. When you have this kind of weather for this number of days, something tends to break down."
The district rarely closes school for extreme cold and they aren't thinking of closing any now, she said.
Accordingly, parents should make sure their children are dressed warmly for dangerously cold temperatures just in case their school bus breaks down or some other emergency, she urged.
"Boots, mittens or gloves, hat, scarf, neck tubes," Shortt said. "As much gear as they can get on."
If there is a bus break down, help can arrive within 15 minutes, she said. But at these temperatures the cold comes fast.
"It can be very cold on a bus," Shortt said.
Parents always have the option of keeping their child home in extreme weather conditions, and the school district will work with parents in those cases, she said.
School nurses are trained to recognize and treat frostbite. Also, teachers and staff spend time talking with children about wearing the right outdoor clothing, Shortt said. Students can borrow from their school's lost and found bin if they need to replace mittens or the like.
The school district can help if families need a little bit of extra help in obtaining cold weather gear. Call the district at 452-2000, ext. 401, she said.
"We would work with agencies to do that," she said.
Most extra curricular school activities that require bus service or travel have been canceled, she said.
As was outdoor recess. School district policy says students stay indoors when temperatures reach 20 below or colder. These days children usually fill the hallways, gym or classrooms of their schools at recess, she said.
"It's very important that they have movement," Shortt said. "Teachers are ingenious when it comes to thinking up things for them to do."
Parents can find out if their child's school bus will be delayed by listening to 102.5 FM or 98.1 FM, she said. Local Channel 11 carries up-to-date bus news, also, she said. If parents don't have access to either, they can call Laidlaw Transit Inc. at 456-6921 for Fairbanks schools and 488-4477 for North Pole or Moose Creek schools.
Air carriers flying turbine engine planes haven't interrupted regular schedules or canceled flights. Piston engine planes are grounded around 40 below until the weather warms up.
"Frontier is operating everywhere across the state," said Craig Kenmonth, Frontier Flying general manager. "We're flying our fleet of twin-turbine aircraft."
Only when visibility is compromised with dense ice fog that turbine flights are canceled.
"It is cold snaps like this that last for days that create the iffiest visibility issues over time," Kenmonth explained.
"The hardest part is the ground transportation in these temperatures and the village agents getting out to the airport. People are hunkered down in their homes."
Wright Air Service canceled a Fort Yukon/Venetie flight Thursday for lack of passengers.
"The locals understand the temperatures," said Chris Matthews, a Wright pilot.
"Most of our flights are going, visibility permitting."
Guardian Flight Inc., a Fairbanks-based air ambulance also continues to fly with turbine engine planes, weather and field conditions permitting, said Brooks Wright, Guardian Flight safety officer.
*Actually Yukon Flats has a low of -60 tonight and an expected high tomorrow of -30-40 tomorrow.
