The Guardian has been whining mindlessly about Alaska melting, in the middle of Alaska’s coldest spring on record.
The Nenana Ice Classic tripod is still standing and will probably remain upright for a few more days, which could mean a new record for the latest breakup ever in Alaska’s oldest and richest guessing game.
“I’m thinking we’ve probably got a record breaker here,” Ice Classic manager Cherrie Forness said on Wednesday from Nenana.
The latest breakup in the 97-year history of the Ice Classic is on May 20, 1964 at 11:41 a.m. Alaska Standard Time. The Tanana River ice and the forecast for the next few days leads her to believe this year’s winning time will be later than that, Forness said.
“It’s supposed to get cold again and it’s still staying below freezing at night,” she said.
While the Tanana River ice is starting to show signs of weakening in a few spots above and below the tripod in the form of open water holes, the ice right around the tripod is holding fast, she said.
“There’s no water yet near or around the tripod,” Forness said.
It goes hand in hand with a late garden season too:)
It is expected to drop to 15 degrees F. Saturday night with more snow…
Better keep a lookout for “low-level” IRS or EPA employees–or others with jihadist tendencies–intent on chopping it free in the dead of night (“we’re scientists, and were interested in seeing the conditions, and then his hobnailed boot and my axe both slipped…”).
http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/weather/weather_news/Mark-Johnson-Northern-hemisphere-snowfall-sets-an-all-time-record
During the most recent cold season, the snow extent for areas north of the equator covered a full 41.79 square kilometers. That’s a lot of snow! That breaks the old record of 41.73 square kilometers back in the famously cold and snowy winter of 1977-78.
What’s more, three out of the top 10 snowiest seasons in the Northern hemisphere have occurred since the turn of the new century. 2002-2003 finished seventh with 41.3 square kilometers of snow extent. The 2010-2011 cold season finished ninth with 41.2 square kilometers of snow cover.