{"id":9672,"date":"2012-01-29T23:43:51","date_gmt":"2012-01-29T23:43:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/?p=9672"},"modified":"2012-01-30T13:03:11","modified_gmt":"2012-01-30T13:03:11","slug":"record-cold-continues-across-interior-alaska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/archives\/9672","title":{"rendered":"Record cold continues across interior Alaska"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"POES<\/a>

POES AVHRR 12.0 \u00c2\u00b5m and MODIS 11.0 \u00c2\u00b5m IR images (with METAR surface reports)<\/p><\/div>\n

Record cold continued across the interior of Alaska, with Fairbanks reaching a minimum temperature of -50\u00c2\u00ba F on 28 January 2012<\/strong> and -51\u00c2\u00ba F on 29 January 2012<\/strong>. These were the first -50\u00c2\u00ba F temperatures at Fairbanks since 2006 (NWS Fairbanks public information statements<\/a><\/strong>). The coldest temperature reported was -65\u00c2\u00ba F<\/strong> at Galena and by a coopertive observer at Fort Yukon (Fairbanks region temperature and precipitation data<\/a><\/strong>).<\/p>\n

A sequence of AWIPS images of 1-km resolution POES AVHRR<\/a><\/strong> 12.0 \u00c2\u00b5m IR and MODIS<\/a><\/strong> 11.0 \u00c2\u00b5m IR data (above)<\/em><\/strong> revealed the expansion of surface IR brightness temperatures of -50\u00c2\u00ba C or colder (violet to white color enhancement)<\/em> during the early morning hours on 28 and 29 January. The coldest surface air temperatures at the times of the IR images included -50\u00c2\u00ba F at Fairbanks (station identifier PAFA)<\/em> and -60\u00c2\u00ba F at Fort Yukon (station identifier PFYU)<\/em> and Tanana (station identifier PATA)<\/em>. The signature of cold air drainage into lower elevation terrain (such as the relatively narrow river valleys along the south side of the Brooks Range<\/a><\/strong>, and also the broad Yukon Flats<\/a><\/strong>)<\/em> could be seen on the 1-km resolution IR images.<\/p>\n

\"Suomi<\/a>

Suomi NPP VIIRS 11.450 \u00c2\u00b5m (Band I5) IR image<\/p><\/div>\n

The pattern of cold air drainage into lower elevations could be seen in even greater detail using McIDAS images of 375-meter resolution Suomi NPP<\/a><\/strong> VIIRS<\/a><\/strong> 10.450 \u00c2\u00b5m IR data at 12:06 UTC on 28 January, over northwestern Alaska and the Yukon Territory of Canada (above),<\/em><\/strong> and also just to the southwest over the eastern interior of Alaska (below)<\/em><\/strong>. These 2 VIIRS images use a different color enhancement, where the coldest surface IR brightness temperatures are darker blue.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there was no surface air temperature report for Arctic Village (station identifier PARC)<\/em> at this time, but the coldest surface IR brightness temperatures within some of the deeper valleys near that site was -58.4\u00c2\u00ba C (-73.1\u00c2\u00ba F). <\/p>\n

To the south, a broad area of very cold (dark blue)<\/em> surface IR brightness temperatures was seen across the Yukon Flats<\/a><\/strong>, with a minimum value of -58.3\u00c2\u00ba C (-72.9\u00c2\u00ba F). The hourly surface air temperature at the Fort Yukon (PFYU) reporting station close to the time of the satellite image was -56\u00c2\u00ba F, while the surface IR brightness temperature at that location was -54\u00c2\u00ba F. Although there is not always a direct 1:1 correspondence between satellite-sensed IR surface temperature values and the actual air temperature measured within an instrument shelter at a height of 5 feet above ground level, the IR satellite imagery can be used to located areas that might have the coldest surface air temperatures.<\/p>\n

\"Suomi<\/a>

Suomi NPP VIIRS 11.450 \u00c2\u00b5m (Band I5) IR image<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Record cold continued across the interior of Alaska, with Fairbanks reaching a minimum temperature of -50\u00c2\u00ba F on 28 January 2012 and -51\u00c2\u00ba F on 29 January 2012. These were the first -50\u00c2\u00ba F temperatures at Fairbanks since 2006 (NWS Fairbanks public information statements). The coldest temperature reported was -65\u00c2\u00ba F at Galena and by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,22,12,26,49,48,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arctic","category-avhrr","category-modis","category-poes","category-suomi_npp","category-viirs","category-winter-weather"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9672"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9675,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9672\/revisions\/9675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}