The Interior Alaska town of Chicken wins the winter prize as the first locale to hit 50 below zero this winter. The National Weather Service reports on its Facebook page that a high pressure system over Interior Alaska is holding the mainland calm and clear, with cold air settling into the valleys, filling the Interior with bone-numbing temperatures.
While Chicken recorded minus 52 this morning, Tok came in at minus 46, with Eagle close behind at minus 44. At the Fairbanks International Airport, temperatures of minus 28 were recorded Thursday morning.
Interior Alaska is known for its extreme temperature differentials. While communities see frigid temperatures during winter, in summertime, temperatures can shoot up to 80 degrees or higher.
Chicken is a town near the south fork of the 40-Mile River, close to the Canadian border, with a population of 8 people. In the late 1800's, Chicken was a bustling mining community of around 700 people, but it dwindled as the miners left for the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898.
According to the community's website, Chicken became incorporated in 1902, with the suggested name of "Ptarmigan," a chicken-like game bird common across Alaska. However, "nobody could agree on the correct spelling. They didn't want their town name to be the source of ridicule and laughter, so they decided on 'Chicken.'"
The Alaska Community Database notes that "chicken" is a common name for the state's official bird, the ptarmigan.
The National Weather Service forecasts cold temperature persisting in the Interior through the weekend.