Today, it warmed up to 14F. This temperature, although not objectively warm, is so much in contrast to the temperatures of recent weeks that I felt no need for my hat and gloves while running errands around town.
The record cold spell that persisted through December and into January now seems to be over. There is every possibility that we will see a few more cold spells before spring but, if the past is predictive, they are unlikely to last for more than a week, or so.
While I was tidying up my file of recent pictures, I discovered two pictures taken from precisely the same vantage point, yet under extremes of weather conditions.
The main image was taken on Solstice Day, December 20, 2025. On that day, it was -37F, but there was only a moderate atmospheric inversion in the valley. Examination of the details in the image will show the exhaust plume from a building making the sort of sharp bend which is characteristic of such conditions.
The second image was taken on January 3rd, when it was in the -40s and a strong inversion was present. The ice fog was so thick that visibility was less than one quarter of a mile and driving alerts were issued.
On that day, it turned out that my youngest offspring needed a ride somewhere. At such low temperatures it is not good to shut off a car engine until it has run long enough to evaporate all the moisture out of the exhaust system. Repeated short trips can result in a build-up ice if the water vapor in the exhaust gases freezes in the small channels of the catalytic converters. If enough channels are blocked, the car won’t start.
To thoroughly warm my vehicle before returning home, I decided to drive up the hill to the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus to see what the view would be like from that elevation. Often there is a sharp delineation and it is possible to look down on the top of the ice fog as we do when looking down on clouds from an airplane window. On this occasion, however, there was a gradient, rather than a distinct boundary.
It was interesting to see the same rosy glow appears in both images. That particular color is something I look forward to in the winter months.
Beautiful to see that color.
I was glad to read that your weather had warmed up to 14 degrees. As you say, that is not a high temperature under normal circumstances, but having endured -45 the week before, it was a large rise for your body to gratefully adjust!