Outdoors with Don Q: It's dark and cold in the Far North

This is my annual reminder that November 18 was a significant date in the lives of some 4,212 hardy Alaskans (as of the 2010 census). Those folks live in a unique location known as Barrow, Alaska, which is the northernmost community in the United States.

It is located on the edge of the Arctic Ocean, about 320 miles north of the Arctic Circle, and roughly about 1,300 miles south of the North Pole. On November 18, the sun set below the horizon at Barrow and it will not peek back up over the horizon until January 23 (weather permitting).

That’s more than two months without sunshine. Wow! With that as a lead-in, here is a whole bunch of information about Barrow with much of it courtesy of Internet website www.Wikipedia.com.

Barrow, Alaska
It is the largest city and borough seat of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. State of Alaska. It is the 9th northernmost city in the world and is the northernmost city in the United States of America, with nearby Point Barrow being the nation's northernmost point. It derives its name from Point Barrow, which was named by Frederick William Beechey in 1825 for Sir John Barrow of the British Admiralty.

The location has been home to Native Inupiat Eskimo people for over 1,000 years under the name of “Ukpeagvik,” which translates into” “The place where Snow Owls are hunted.”

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 21 square miles of which 18 square miles are land and the remaining three square miles are water. The predominant land type is tundra, which sits on permafrost that is as much as 1,300 feet deep.

Barrow is the economic center of the North Slope Borough, the city's primary employer, and numerous businesses provide support services to oil field operations. State and federal agencies also provide employment.
Many residents rely upon subsistence food sources such as: whale, seal, polar bear, walrus, waterfowl and caribou.
Fish are harvested from the coast or nearby rivers and lakes.

Climate and weather:
Barrow’s climate is cold and dry and is classified as a polar climate.
Winter weather can be extremely dangerous because of the combination of cold and wind, while summers are cool even at their warmest.

Despite the extreme northern location, temperatures at Barrow are moderated by the surrounding topography. With the Arctic Ocean on three sides, and flat tundra stretching some 200 miles to the south, there are no wind barriers and there are no protected valleys where dense cold air can settle or form temperature inversion in the lower atmosphere that commonly happens in the Interior between the Brooks Range and the Alaska Range.
Barrow experiences some of the lowest average temperatures in Alaska.
While actual temperature extremes are rare, extremely low wind chill and white out conditions from blowing snow are very common.

Temperatures remain below freezing from early October through late May. The high daily temperature is above freezing on an average of only 109 days per year. There are freezing temperatures an average of 324 days per year. Freezing temperatures and snowfall can occur during any month of the year.
Most interesting, Barrow is classified as a desert, with an average of less than 5 inches "equivalent rainfall" per year, which includes less than 30 inches of snow.
In addition to the low temperatures and months without sun, Barrow is also one of the cloudiest places on earth. Owing to the prevailing easterly winds off the Arctic Ocean, Barrow is completely overcast slightly more than 50% of the year and at least 70% overcast 62% of the time.

Peak cloudiness occurs in August and September when the ocean is open.
Dense fog occurs an average of 65 days per year, mostly in the summer months. Ice fog is very common during the winter months, especially when the temperature drops below −30 °F.
Serious cold weather usually begins in January, and February is generally the coldest month, averaging −16 °F.
By March 1 the sun is up for 9 hours, the average temperature is 2 or 3 degrees warmer, and the winds are usually higher. April brings less extreme temperatures, with an average of about 0 °F, but on April 1 there are over 14 hours of sunlight.

In May the temperatures are much warmer, averaging 20 °F.
Beginning on May 11-12, the phenomenon known as the midnight sun occurs and the sun does not set for 82–83 days, until July 31-August 1.

In June the average temperature rises above freezing, to 35 °F, and average daily temperatures remain above freezing until mid-September. July is the warmest month of the year with an average high of 46 °F and an average low temperature of 34 °F.
Beginning in late July the Arctic Ocean is relatively ice-free, and remains so until late October.

Weathewise:
The weather in Barrow on Nov. 18 was: A high of 18 degrees and a low of 12 degrees and partly cloudy.
Other Far North locations:
If you think Barrow is cold and dark, check these temps for Nov. 18, 2014:

Alaska:
Fairbanks: A high of 28 degrees and a low of 23 and partly cloudy.
Nuiqsut: High of 18, low of 12 and partly cloudy. 
Prudhoe Bay: High of 14, low of 14 and partly cloudy. 
Umiat: High of 18, low of 12 and partly cloudy.
Northwest Territories, Canada:
Aklavik: High of 18, low of 10 and partly cloudy.
Fort McPherson: High of 14, low of 7 and mostly cloudy.
Inuvik: High of 20, low of 9 and overcast.
Sachs Harbor: High of -5, low of -7 and partly cloudy. 
Yellowknife: High of 9, low of -6 and partly cloudy.
Nunavut, Canada:
Alert: High of -12, low of -23 and overcast.
Arctic Bay: High of -4, low of -7 and partly cloudy.
Eureka: High of -16, low of -22 and partly cloudy.
Resolute: High of -8, low of -12 and partly cloudy.
Yukon, Canada:
Beaver Creek: High of 17, low of 13 and partly cloudy.
Old Crow: High of 1, low of -1 and clear.
Watson Lake: High of 17, low of 13 with partly cloudy.

Finally:
So, if you've been complaining about Carson City's chilly mornings, relax.
You could have it a whole lot worse, if you lived at places like Alert, Arctic Bay, Eureka, Old Crow, Resolute, Sachs Harbor or Yellowknife.
Heck, their temperatures make Carson City seem like Bali, Bangkok, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Singapore or Tahiti by comparison.

Bet Your Favorite Pigeon
Bet your favorite pigeon that he can’t tell you the coldest temperature ever recorded in Carson City.
If he grins and says, “The record is -22 degrees, which was set in 1989,” he could have been living here at that time.
Note: The lowest temperature ever recorded on earth was -128.6 F at the Soviet Vostok Station in Antarctica on July 20, 1983.

— Don Quilici is the Outdoor editor for Carson Now. Don's wife, Elaine, is the Outdoor photographer. They live in Carson City and can be reached at donquilici@hotmai.com.