Anchorage Daily News

Talk about an inconvenient truth.

The rest of the globe may be heating up, but it's winter as usual in Alaska's Interior, where overnight temperatures in some places are approaching minus 70.

In Tok, the water pipes at the Husky Lounge froze Thursday -- but customers who like a little water with their whiskey were in luck. The bar has bottled water.

In Arctic Village, neither the school nor the only washeteria has had water for about 10 days.

In Fairbanks, round tires are turning square. Tires lose a pound of pressure every time the temperature drops by 10 degrees, "and they'll get square if they sit in one spot for a while," auto mogul Ralph Seekins said.

"Eventually you adjust to these temperatures. And yes, you continue to live your normal life," said David Bridges, who has lived in Fort Yukon for 25 years. "It's something we expect every year. It's part of the macho creed of living here."

WATCH: A pan of boiling water thrown into the air, evaporating almost instantly. Video taken in Fairbanks, Alaska, on the UAF campus.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-GSrrk_ATM&NR=1

FORT YUKON

Minus 58

"You get up in the middle of the night and you check the thermometer. Maybe it's wishful thinking -- if you stare at it long enough, it'll change."

-- David Bridges

EAGLE

Minus 56

"Cotton long johns, wool pants, quilted insulated Carhartt bibs -- the red quilting, not the heavyweight stuff -- Sorel pack boots with an extra insole, a long-sleeves T-shirt and two wool sweaters, a down vest, an M-65 Army field jacket with its liner. Only one pair of wool socks -- I would've been better off with two, but that's what I had -- bandana around my neck, a scarf, a pair of sheepskin mittens and on my head, a knit cap, though I could've had two."

-- Bill Mosher, on what he wore on a 1.25-mile walk to visit a neighbor.

"When was the last time I went outside? I went outside yesterday to go to the bathroom."

-- Louise Freeman

"You have to be real careful about climbing on the roof to clean the stove pipe, or whittling. You don't do anything involving sharp instruments or saws, because there's no medevacs."

-- Louise Freeman

TOK

Minus 58

"I've seen it colder in this state. I lived in Chicken from 1978-81 and I have seen Chicken at 90 below. So when it gets this cold I go, 'This is Alaska.' I wonder how many are gonna leave? We're weeding them out."

-- Josie Ainsworth

ARCTIC VILLAGE

Minus 49

"My husband's been going out and getting wood every day since it got cold. A lot of times I think about a long time ago, when our people were nomadic, and I wonder, what did they do?"

-- Marjorie Gemmill

FAIRBANKS

Minus 45

"30 below is where you start to feel it. 20 below is OK, no problem. Most of us who live in Fairbanks feel like, as long as it doesn't stick around for an extended period, it's a badge of honor we all wear on our sleeve."

"We raise American quarter horses and they stay outside all winter. We don't blanket them until it's 30 below. That's when my wife starts feeling sorry for them."

-- Ralph Seekins

Find Beth Bragg online at adn.com/contact/bbragg or call 257-4309.

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