With a fresh coat of snow and colder temperatures, winter has finally arrived in Anchorage. And its return ended a long streak of 394 consecutive days with temperatures above zero. Sub-zero readings returned to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport 8 p.m. Sunday, when the official Anchorage temperature dropped to minus 1 degree.
Here's how long it's been since we've felt such a chill. On Dec. 26, 2013, the last time Anchorage was officially below zero, the price of Alaska North Slope crude oil was $109.52 per barrel according to the state Department of Revenue. Ah, the good old days.
The just-ended streak was not a record, but it was the second longest. Between Jan. 18, 2000, and Nov. 20, 2001 -- a span of 683 days -- no sub-zero temperatures were officially reported in Anchorage.
There is something unsatisfying about second place. No one remembers second place streaks. Does anyone even maintain second-place lists? Quick, name Alaska's second greatest snowfall, or its second highest temperature. Who has the record for most Olympic silver medals? At least we know that 2014 was the winner as the warmest year on record in Alaska -- and globally. We will always have that -- although perhaps not for long.
We should note that the official Anchorage temperature is measured at the airport (formerly at the National Weather Service forecast office on Sand Lake Road) on the west side of town. Other stations in Anchorage have experienced below-zero temperatures while the airport stayed comparatively toasty. In fact, these stations all repeatedly dropped below zero: Merrill Field, eight times; Elmendorf Air Force Base (that is the official station name), 10 times; and Campbell Creek Science Center, 16 times.
Perhaps the fresh snow and bitter cold will end speculation that the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race restart will move to Fairbanks, a change considered by race officials. The current snow depth in Anchorage is 9 inches and much-heavier snow fell along the portion of the Iditarod route between Willow and the Alaska Range during the last few days. This may bode well for a restart in Willow, although the race is still more than a month away. Fur Rendezvous organizers must be breathing a sigh of relief, too. A winter festival without winter is just not the same.
Alaskans near the state's largest city have been grumbling for weeks about the lack of snow and, to a lesser extent, the absence of winter-like temperatures. This is Alaska, after all. It is supposed to be cold and snowy. Not this year. Alyeska Resort just opened the entire mountain to skiing on Friday and Turnagain Pass snowmachining remains closed due to lack of snow at highway level. Perhaps we'll end up with a repeat of the winter of 1995-96, when only 9.9 inches of snow were observed all season through Jan. 31. February then saw a record 52.1 inches of snow.
The snow that ended late on Friday pushed the season total for Anchorage over 18 inches -- far below the 47 inches that normally falls by this date.
But at least that means Anchorage has now exceeded the 17 inches recorded in Amarillo, Texas. And we have now equaled the season total of sub-zero days recorded in the Oklahoma Panhandle and most of Kentucky.
When friends or family from the Lower 48 post pictures of snow online or tell us how cold it is where they live, we usually snicker to ourselves and tell them they don't know what winter really is. This winter has been different. However, we can now lift our heads proudly and reclaim our Alaska hardiness badge of honor.