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Sub zero weather as High Pressure holds

Sub zero weather as High Pressure holds

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Here it is  temperatures starting to drop  down the ole thermometer. Hit 18 below  last night and high got up to -6. Day was sort of an lazy day with grey sky and  few lazy snowflakes falling  but tonight we have  broken over cast with moon showing time to time.  At the moment we are sitting in between  2  1045mb  highs with couple troughs  stretching  from the west coast over the interior into the Yukon.  Te Yukon HP is dominating the eastern have of the state with  White Pass  expect with winds of  40 gusting to 55. Dropping the wind chill  down around 30 below.  Took on fuel  many a day at Skagway  with those temps and wind  blowing across the car deck.  Hard to keep  stuff   thawed with  that chill  on the overhead piping but we managed to prevent freeze ups and all with out heat tapes. They are an no no on ships.

The 1045 mb over Siberia is keeping the west coast cold  but not like the interior. There the temps  under marine influences  are above zero  and few places into the teens. That may change when that high slides east.  Surface charts  show some pretty tight gradients  south of the Chain so  there are some gale force winds blowing there.

On the  NWS TV show  they show  Northway hitting 30 below to  tonight and  tomorrow  night they are suppose to hit minus 40.  By the way North way is on the same plateau that saw the coldest temps ever recorded in North America. Chilly night that was  in Snag Creek, YK.

 

Today temps at 2330 hours :  -6.1 F

Humidity  77 %

DWPT  -11 F

Wind  1 mph gusting 4 from the ESE

Barometer 30.47 “/hg and  showing falling trend.

Soil temperature @ 18 ”  32 Deg. F

 

Well folks that all for now

Stay safe  stay warm  and keep an log on the fire.

 

John

 

https://www.pwsweather.com/obs/SALCHA1.html

Tanana Jet turns on

Tanana Jet turns on

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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

 

Short Day Today But Tomorrow will be slightly longer

Short Day Today But Tomorrow will be slightly longer

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Well here we are at the shortest day of the year. Picture was shot at high noon here to show the sun height as we see it here. 3 hours and 41  minutes in Fairbanks. Sun rise 1047 here and sunset was at 1444 today.  Not much heat coming from that low angles. Solar panels on the  Wx station struggle to charge up the super cap during the day. At least so far no -40 to shut down  the Davis stations. Still shopping around to find an wireless station that will not quit at -40. Everything I have found is either wired  or the transmitter quit at the above  temps. back in the old analog days Davis VP2 measure temps down to -80 before the battery died up at Jim’s creek camp on the Dalton.

Anyway Monday saw an 945 mb  low chewing it way up the  Bering  Sea producing 70 kt plus  winds. That same storm is now  headed toward Wrangel Island  and NW away from Alaska but behind it there was coastal erosion, blizzard condx all along the SW and Western Coast of Alaska. Most of the week been  winter storm warning  for  Northern  Alaska  and the north slope. On the Dalton  heavy snow conditions ended up  having 2 semi’s stuck with highway crews having to dig them out. Highway department close the road till conditions improved.

The Kodiak low was at work  producing  storms to  keep the south coast wet and some areas freezing rain. While here in the  shadow of the Alaskan range we saw mostly flurries. Fairbanks and north saw  snow up to 12 inches in places. Last storm  snow was around us  but we only got 2.5  inches compared to what was falling  North and south of us.

Looks like we are going to have an dry and sunny week end from the forecast.

Strong high pressure over the Copper River Basin and southern
Yukon Territory will build north over the NE Interior and Beaufort
Sea Fri. This is now causing strong southerly gap winds through
Alaska Range passes that will continue into Sat. This is also
causing south winds through Brooks Range passes that will continue
through Sat. This will This will cause a moderately strong Tanana
Valley Jet to develop Fri and continue through the weekend, and
can expect NE winds to 20 kt over the Elliot Highway to develop
Fri as well.

So far no wind advisory here  in the Harding Lake area. Most generally they start around the Birch lake area  about 8 miles south of here.

Was looking to get out and do some Ice fishing  but  due to the mild temps we been having it not safe to even try. Salcha river has open leads on it were normally it frozen over this time of year. In fact I heard an air boat running up it the other day from the cabin.

Guess this all for now

Stay well and keep an log on the fire and light in the window

John