Record Temps in Goldstream

Observation by Stephanie Little Wolf:

Much higher recorded hot temperature in summer 2019 than in previous 16 years. Yesterday, April 21st, 2019, it was 80 degrees on my front porch. So that is amazing for April. When the sun does come out, it's hot immediately. This year, I first heard a robin in February instead of March. The geese, ducks, and cranes arrived very early and are here already. Also, a small type of owl, the saw-whet, was found deceased all around the Goldstream Valley. They looked very thin. Before this last snow, I had a mosquito bite end of March. Usually, we don't have much in the way of bugs until into May. The amount of ice is incredible. The snow melted so fast, the ground never had time to thaw, so it stood and froze as temps dropped last week. We had a literal ice rink. As a dog musher, I have never seen such bad conditions. Strange ice sink holes and blue humpy ice, tons of overflow, and people are punching through it and becoming stuck, losing teams.

Comments from LEO Editors:

This observation has been forwarded to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

According to a map produced by Rick Thoman at the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy, statewide temperatures in March have been far above normal. In the Fairbanks area, temperatures were around 16 degrees higher than average.