Salcha Weather

Well this  past week has been  mild for us here at the homestead as the Tanana jet  kicks in the  down slope winds.  Temperatures  been in the  20’s  with breezes  up to 20 KTS.  But down in the  hole as I call it with the inversion  building in ( 1055mb ) Fairbanks was different story.   Wife needed some supplies for her fat pill making so we drove to Fairbanks to get them. It was  21 above at the cabin. ten miles up the Rich it was at 11 deg and in an space of  1/2 mile it dropped to 11 below zero. as we drove by   Eilsen it was 2 below and then it  dropped to  8 below at North Pole. On into Fairbanks where once again it was down to  11 below. That is a bit of an  drop in temp. Between  Cleary summit and the airport there was an 45 deg difference.   This inversion  is common  during the winter and  allows for those  cold temps seen here in late December and January.  During the coldest days it not uncommon to see the barometer well over 31 inches of mercury. In fact  few years  back all but one airport  closed to IFR rules and were on VFR rules only as an huge high settled in over Alaska before it  moved south. Temperature were seen around the state in minus 60 to minus 70  below. here to day we hit -5 at 0730 and since then warmed up to 2 above.  Fairbanks is showing -9.

Out on the coast another  nasty storm came ashore with 85 mph winds  damaging several  villages.  On Kuskokwim bay the  village  of Quinhagak  reported winds reaching 85 mph (137 kph) Friday morning causing power outage for half an day . One resident reported cars sliding off the road and plywood flying around. Also one home  that was  partially constructed was ripped off its foundation. The village fuel pumps where also damage  causing  stove oil and gasoline to be ration.  Over in Platinum several homes reported minor damage. The radio station from bethel was unable to reach Goodnews bay  to check on damages there.  Further  north along the coast high winds , heavy snow and blowing snow was the order of the day.

Our present weather here in the Interior for the week is going to be ruled  by high pressure (1030 mb) until it drifts ne over into the NWT and allows for low pressure to fill in as an new high over Siberia builds. That high will most likely  bring cooler temps then what we been seeing.

Today weather  @ 1400 hr

Temperature 1.9 F

Humidity 74%

Wind  0 from the east

DWPT  -4

Soil Temperature @ 18 inches  32 deg.

Sun to low to get solar reading.

Until next time

Stay warm and Healthy.

Keep log on the fire and candle in the window.

John

Here something to think about

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/alaska-science-forum/are-we-living-warm-peak-between-ice-ages