As the month opened, cold low pressure aloft remained over the mainland, where it held through the 9th. After the low moved west, out over the Bering Sea, increasing southerly flow from the Gulf of Alaska swept over the Alaska mainland, bringing a huge rise in temperature nearly everywhere. This continued through the 18th, and on the 19th, cooling began as northeast flow aloft was established. From the 20th through the end of the month, cold low pressure settled over the mainland and persisted through the end of the month. rnThis sequence brought huge changes, especially at mid-month. The cold snap that began on December 27 ended on January 12. The 2 and a half week duration of this event was close to the record-long cold snap of just over 3 weeks. While the low temperatures during the cold spell did rnnot set any new all-time records for January, the rise in temperature at mid-month was enormous. At the head of the list was the co-op observing station in North Pole, just southeast of Fairbanks, where the temperature rose 113 degrees from -58°F on the 3rd to 55°F on the 16th.
展开▼
