2 Feet Of Snow Traps Drivers In Michigan

Do you think that Alaska is cold during winter? Of course it is! However, the type of cold the state is experiencing right now if unprecedented. How about having consecutive days of temperatures colder than 40 degrees below zero!

This is true for much of the Alaskan interior, particularly near Fairbanks and in between the Alaska and Brooks mountain ranges.

Over the last four days in Fairbanks, temperatures have struggled to reach 40 degrees below zero, with organizers in Fairbanks even postponing their annual New Year’s Eve fireworks show due to the extreme cold.

The temperature in the final few minutes of 2025 in Fairbanks was 43 degrees below zero.

In other words, conditions are unbearably and dangerously cold, even by local standards in Central Alaska.

In Chicken, Alaska, located near the Canadian Border, temperatures dropped as low as 62 degrees below zero! Numerous other locations in the eastern Alaskan Interior have seen temperatures between 50 and 60 degrees below zero.

On top of bringing dangerously cold minimum temperatures, this most recent cold snap has also been more prolonged than usual.

Temperatures in much of Alaska have been largely colder than usual since roughly December 5th, 2025

Some regions in eastern Alaska and the neighboring Yukon Territory in Canada have seen combined December temperatures up to 30 degrees below the climatological average.

This means that much of east-central Alaska has been stuck between 40 and 50 degrees below for nearly an entire month!

While many factors affect the severity of winters in Alaska, one notable statistic is the unusually high snowfall in portions of Alaska this past December. Fairbanks saw more than double its usual snowfall for the month of December.

Juneau, Alaska’s capital, located in far-southeast Alaska, has seen nearly its entire annual snowfall in December alone, at over 80 inches.

Snowfall promotes cold temperatures by reflecting light from the sun back to space. In Alaska, there is already very little sunlight during the winter due to its positioning on and near the Arctic Circle.

What little sunlight snow-covered portions of Alaska have seen has been quickly reflected back to space by the unusually heavy snowpack.

In Central Alaska, located between the Alaska and Brooks ranges, the heavy snowpack, lack of sunlight, and lack of transport of air from warmer locations have led to the development of an arctic high pressure system, leading to stable conditions and light winds. These conditions cause the land to rapidly lose heat, becoming even colder. With this arctic high pressure is in place, central Alaska has remained cold. However, a slight breakdown in the strength of the high will allow temperatures to warm somewhat (see forecast for next 3 days below).

Fortunately, this pattern will break down as we approach mid-January. A more active storm track from the Pacific is poised to bring wetter and warmer conditions to portions of Alaska, especially towards the middle to second half of the month. While this wetter pattern means snow for most, temperatures will improve, being far more bearable than the current temperatures in the 40 to 50 degree below zero range.

Hayden Marshall is a meteorologist intern and First-Year-Master’s Student at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has been following weather content over the past three years as a Storm Spotter and weather enthusiast. He can be found on Instagram and Linkedin.

On today’s Digital Pregame Show presented by Little Caesars, J.B Long, D’Marco Farr, and Maurice Jones-Drew preview the Los Angeles Rams’ Week 18 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium. The trio discuss key players to watch, game predictions, and more. Tune in for kickoff at 1:25pm PT on FOX.

CORTE MADERA, Calif. (AP) — Crews cleared mud from key California highways as forecasters warned Sunday that more thunderstorms were on the way after downpours and high tides caused flooding, road closures and rescues of people trapped in cars.

Five northern counties remained under a flood watch, with up to three inches (7.6 cm) of rain possible through Monday night in areas that have been drenched off and on since around Christmas, said the National Weather Service office in Eureka. At least a foot (.3 meters) of snow was likely in the mountains.

To the south near the San Francisco Bay Area, waters were slowly receding after roadways from Sausalito to San Rafael were flooded during heavy rain that coincided with record-breaking “ King Tides.” Such tides occur when the moon is in its closest position to the Earth, creating a stronger gravitational pull.

Some people kayaked along swamped streets, while others waded through water above their knees. Authorities were called to assist when cars got stuck in water as high as 3 and 4 feet (1.1 and 1.2 meters), Marin County Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Dobbins said Saturday.

“I’ve been around here for the King Tides and I’ve never seen it this high. Never,” Jeremy Hager of San Rafael told KTVU-TV.

Flooding was reported across Marin, Sonoma, Alameda, San Mateo and San Francisco counties.

While the tides were waning, lingering thunderstorms on Sunday could cause additional problems throughout low-lying areas, forecasters said. “For anyone driving, slow down and allow extra time to reach your destination,” the Bay Area office of the weather service warned on social media.

Farther south in Santa Barbara County, a key highway was reopened Sunday after it was blocked for most of the weekend near Goleta due to a series of mudslides. A man died after he was swept into a creek during the storm, the sheriff’s office said Saturday.

Parts of Santa Barbara County received more than four inches (10 cm) of rain over two days, the weather service said Sunday.

After a mostly dry autumn, California has been hit by a series of powerful winter storms that brought the wettest holiday season to the state in years.

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