By Jason Samenow
In an elevated valley of northeast West Virginia on Saturday morning, it was colder than just about anywhere in Alaska and among the most frigid locations in the entire United States.
Alaska hasn't seen frigid temperatures in nearly two decades as it once did. The icefields that at one time surrounded Alaska and kept it cold are no longer. They are all receding.
An unusual winter warm spell in Alaska (click here) has brought daytime temperatures soaring past 15.5C (60F) and torrents of rain at a time of year normally associated with bitter cold and snow.
At the island community of Kodiak, the air temperature at a tidal gauge hit 19.4C (67F) degrees on Sunday, the highest December reading ever recorded in Alaska, said scientist Rick Thoman of the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy. He called it “absurd.”...
Just 125 miles west of Washington, the temperature at a weather station in Canaan Valley plunged to minus-31 degrees. It is the coldest reading on record in that part of the state.
The weather station is managed by Virginia Tech at the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge.
The previous lowest temperature measured in Canaan Valley was minus-27 on Jan. 21, 1985, according to Robert Leffler, a retired National Weather Service climatologist, who reported the news in an email.
Canaan Valley is a popular ski destination and home to two resorts, Canaan Valley Resort and Timberline.
Weather records have been kept in Canaan Valley since 1944, according to Leffler. The Virginia Tech weather station, however, was installed only about three years ago by meteorology instructor David Carroll. It is probable that the temperatures fell even lower there in the past....
