Alaska is in the throes of a heat wave with temperatures in some parts of the state reaching 20 degrees Celsius at a time of year typically characterized by bitter cold and heavy snowfall.
According to local media reports today, on the island of Kodiak – southwest of Anchorage – 19.4 degrees was recorded last Sunday, the highest temperature ever recorded in December in the whole territory, commented the scientist Rick Thoman. of the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy, calling it “absurd”.
The new reference maximum follows a series of record temperatures such as 18.3 degrees recorded at Kodiak airport, 16.6 degrees in the Municipality of Cold Bay on the Alaska Peninsula and at least eight days this month with temperatures above 10 degrees. in the city of Unalaska – in western Aleutians – including 13.3 degrees on Saturday 25, which is the hottest Christmas day ever recorded in the state.