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Landscape in Alaska: Unusual temperatures in winter
Photo: Glenn Oakley / Aurora Photos / imago images
A heat wave has led to high temperatures and heavy rainfall in the US state of Alaska - winter there is usually associated with freezing cold and snow.
In the island community of Kodiak, the air temperature reached 19.4 degrees Celsius on Sunday - the highest December value ever recorded in Alaska, said scientist Rick Thoman of the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy.
He called the temperatures "absurd".
The maximum value is one of a series of temperature measurements that suggest an unusually warm winter in Alaska.
According to Thoman, Kodiak Airport was last around 18.3 degrees Celsius, in the community of Cold Bay a record of around 16.6 degrees Celsius and in the city of Unalaska with around 13.3 degrees Celsius, it was the warmest Christmas day in Alaska since the beginning of the Records measured.
"Icemageddon"
It rained heavily in the interior of the US state, resulting in massive amounts of precipitation.
Scientist Thoman said the area around the city of Fairbanks is experiencing the worst winter storm since 1937.
December is usually a dry month in inland Alaska because the normally cold air cannot hold much moisture.
Then there is usually more powder to see, said Thoman.
But in the past few days it was different.
The heavy rains followed heavy snowfalls.
As a result, a lot of ice formed in the communities around Fairbanks, the power went out in many places, and important roads were closed.
The people in Alaska now call the phenomenon "Icemageddon".
“Ice is extremely difficult to remove once it has bonded to the road surface.
Although the air temperatures were warm during # icemageddon2021, the roads were sub-zero, which caused the ice to stick to the surface, "the Department of Transportation said on Twitter.
In Alaska it is now getting cold again, for this weekend temperatures of around minus 20 degrees Celsius were predicted in Fairbanks.
But warm, humid weather conditions are likely to occur more often in the future.
The warm and wet winter storms have become more frequent in Alaska over the past two decades.
According to Thoman, this is a sign of climate change: "That is exactly what we expect in a warming world."
Snow in the "Sunshine State"
While the normally cold Alaska has to struggle with a warm winter, the "sunshine state" California is grappling with enormous amounts of snow.
The snowfall in the Sierra Nevada partially paralyzed traffic in the mountain region.
A freeway that leads from California to the neighboring state of Nevada was largely closed on Tuesday - the third day in a row.
After more than 21 centimeters of fresh snow within 24 hours, the snowpack has now increased to over five meters in December, according to a measuring station at the University of Berkeley.
According to the meteorologists, this is the third heaviest snowfall within a month since 1970 at the measuring station.
The authorities have issued a winter storm warning for the region.
The heavy snowfall also caused trees and electricity pylons to topple over.
Tens of thousands of people in Northern California were at times without power or internet connections.
After a dry summer and drought problems in the western United States, however, the heavy rainfall is also useful for replenishing water supplies.
ptz / Reuters / dpa