While near-record warmth has been common over the Southeast the past few weeks, another region that rarely sees mild weather this time of year has had its fair share of it.....Alaska.

Records Reported for January 7th, 2005

Valdez, AK 53ºF

Records Reported for January 8th, 2005

Barrow, AK 31ºF
Valdez, AK 54ºF**
Kodiak, AK 50ºF

**All Time Record High for The Month of January

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
125 AM AST FRI JAN 7 2005

...ALASKA AT OR ABOVE ZERO...

AT NOON ON THURSDAY...VIRTUALLY EVERY WEATHER REPORTING STATION IN
ALASKA HAD A TEMPERATURE AT OR ABOVE ZERO DEGREES F. THE LAST TO
RISE ABOVE ZERO...AND THE FIRST TO DROP BELOW IT...WAS ARCTIC
VILLAGE...NORTH OF THE YUKON FLATS.

THERE COULD BE ANOTHER FEW HOURS OF ZERO OR ABOVE TEMPERATURES
THROUGHOUT THE STATE TODAY...THOUGH IT WILL DEPEND ONCE AGAIN ON
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE COPPER RIVER BASIN.

THIS OF COURSE IS IN MARKED CONTRAST TO RECENT WEATHER DOWN IN
PARTS OF THE LOWER 48 THIS WEEK. 20 BELOW TEMPERATURES IN THE
UPPER MIDWEST HAVE BEEN COMMON.

$$
TF JAN 05

I heard that this morning... 53 degrees at Valdez (I knew of that city right away because parts of it were destroyed by a tsunami in the 1964 9.2 Alaskan earthquake.
53 is pretty good for a city that far north.

It's crazy, but it's about to end. Big trough will make the West warm and Alaska and the East cold.