It's Been a Cold and Snowy Winter in Alaska
Fairbanks was 19.7 degrees colder than average in March!
It’s been determined! 2026 tied 1919 (over 100 years ago) for the latest first temperature of the year above 32 degrees. Fairbanks struggled to 34 degrees on April 2. That’s the first time the thermometer rose above 32 degrees since October!
Also, Fairbanks had a stretch of 32 days in a row with the temperature stayed below zero.
The most snow on the ground this winter in Fairbanks was 29”. They still had 23” of snow on the ground on April 9.
Fairbanks had an unbelievably cold March. The average temperature (an average of all the high and low temperatures for the 31 days of the month) was -11.8° and that was 19.7 degrees colder than average. One good thing about Fairbanks is they have many days (especially in winter) when the wind is quite light. This February, the average wind speed was 3.1 mph.
Here’s a table showing monthly temperatures at Northway, Alaska. After a warm fall, it got super cold in December. January and February were only slightly colder than average, then they had their coldest March ever. March was 3.4 degrees colder than February. Anomaly means difference from average.
From February 25 through April 7 (40 days), Fairbanks had 39 days colder than average and only one day warmer than average (and that was only by 1 degree). They had 7 mornings in March when the temperature was colder than -40. They had 37” of snow on the ground on March 1st and they have had at least 1” of snow on the ground every day since October 23rd.
It was the coldest December to March ever in Fairbanks with an average temperature of -13.6°. The coldest temperature this winter in Fairbanks was -50°F on January 4, 2026. They had 66 days with the HIGH temperature below zero, the most since 1975-76. They had 52 days with high temperatures of -30° or colder, the 3rd highest (records go back to 1904). They also had 31 days with temperatures of -40° or colder, the most since 1964-65.
Season snowfall (so far…it may not be over) has been 92.6” and that’s 30.6” above average.
The Airport at Juneau, Alaska has had their snowiest March ever and their snowiest winter ever. Juneau wound up with 76.6” of snow in March and they have had 0.3” so far in April. So they are up to 208.9” for the winter.
I’ve been to the Juneau Airport. They have parallel runways…one with the usual paving and another that is a canal for the planes that take off and go out to the many lakes, landing on the water. In Anchorage, they have a separate lake where, instead of cottages on the lake, the lake has places to keep your plane. If I remember right there is a separate control tower for planes taking off and landing on the water.
Also: At the Alyeska Ski Resort near Anchorage, they have had 365” of snow this winter and they still have a snow depth of 105” at the top of the lift. I’ve been to the Alyeska Ski Resort and rode the gondola to the top. It was summer - lots of pretty flowers and quite a view up there.
The good news for winter-weary Alaska is that the days are getting longer at a rapid rate in April with a gain of 5 minutes of daylight each day at Juneau and a gain of 10 minutes per day now at the Barrow Airport at the northern tip of Alaska. (nice pic. from the Juneau NWS).
Thanks for reading my blog - have a great weekend
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