Record-Breaking Warmth Turns Winter Into a Vanishing Act
Picture this: you’re expecting a typical Alaskan winter in Anchorage, complete with snow-covered streets and temperatures that make you question why humans ever decided to live this far north. Instead, you’re greeted by bare pavement and temperatures that feel more like spring than January. The average snow depth at the NWS office in Anchorage on January 29 is about 13 inches, but this year, the station measured no snow on the ground on that date. It’s as if Mother Nature decided to play a cruel joke on Alaska’s largest city.
Since December 2024, temperatures across the state were 5–10 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, according to NOAA, with isolated areas experiencing even greater anomalies. The warm spell aligns with findings from the National Weather Service showing that January has already brought an average temperature in the city of 28 degrees F, 12 degrees above normal values for the month.
The Alaska Sea Ice Program Stands Guard
While tourists might enjoy the surprisingly mild weather, scientists and meteorologists in Anchorage are watching the ice with the intensity of a hawk tracking its prey. The Alaska Sea Ice Program is staffed 7 days a week from 6:30 am to 3:30 pm with operations at 907.266.5138 and represents one of the most critical monitoring systems in the Arctic. These aren’t your average weather watchers – they’re tracking changes that could reshape the entire Arctic Ocean.
The Alaska Sea Ice Program analyzes and forecasts sea ice conditions across Alaska waters, working alongside other specialized units like the Alaska Aviation Weather Unit and the Anchorage Volcanic Ash Advisory Center. The program generates gridded sea ice concentration products for the Alaskan Arctic, synthesizing a variety of satellite and in situ observations from 2007–present.
When the Ice Disappears, Everything Changes
The numbers coming out of Alaska’s monitoring stations tell a story that’s both fascinating and deeply concerning. The Arctic sea ice reached a minimum extent of 4.28 million square kilometers by mid-September 2024, and following the mid-September minimum, the sea ice increased but at a below average rate during the late fall/winter 2024 to currently 12.1 million square kilometers. Think of it like watching a massive ice cube slowly shrink in your drink – except this ice cube helps regulate the planet’s climate…