Getting to be winter up here - the sun comes up after 10 am now, stays low on the horizon, and then does down a little after 2 pm. Its dark by 3:30 pm. The temperature doesn’t really change during the day as the sun really doesn’t provide any warmth, just a little light. Another couple of weeks will be the shortest day of the year and the beginning of a couple of months of dark for our Alaskan neighbors just to the north of us. We’re starting our period of deep cold - it doesn’t normally get above -5 or -10 below zero from now until after the beginning of February, then it rapidly warms and there will be several weeks of above zero, before really beginning to warm in April. By May we’ll be regularly above freezing every day and from then on, its summer. During this time of year we’ll get cold snaps of -30 to -50 below. Every once in awhile it’ll get really cold with a wind blowing. In 2008 our coldest recorded wind chill down the street was -92 below. At that temp your skin will literally begin to freeze upon contact with the air. People have asked us what it feels like... Put a piece of dry ice against your skin and you’ll understand. It is much colder outside than your freezer in the kitchen... You could stick your head in your freezer to warm up! The closest I can describe the cold is a burning sensation. At very cold temps (-40 and colder) the air is too cold to hold any moisture and it condenses to form ice fog. Any moisture is immediately vaporized - we’ve tried throwing a boiling hot cup of coffee up into the air at -50F. It literally freezes upon contact with the air and never hits the ground! It is a very dry cold up here - it is deceptive in that it doesn’t feel that cold due to low moisture content. You can easily become hypothermic and frost bitten within a short period of time when exposed. You gotta be careful…
Just some perspective for those of you in the rest of the world who’ve never been up to the Arctic (or Antarctic for that matter) during the winter. It is quite an experience! As long as you’re prepared it is relatively safe and I’d recommend it for your “bucket list!”
Till Next Time...