Saturday, January 8, 2011

Winter in Alaska


For several years during my childhood, our family lived in Fairbanks, Alaska. According to weather.com, the average high temperature in January (the coldest month) is 3°F and the average low temperature is -11°. The lowest recorded temperature of -61° occurred in 1961.

Going outside in the winter meant bundling up in many layers of clothing—boots, warm pants, parkas, hats, mittens or gloves. Outdoor activities were somewhat restricted, but we still went outside to play and for recess. My recollection is that we could go outside for recess unless the mercury dropped below -20°.

Ice skating was a favorite activity; the photo at left shows me and my friend Becky ready for some skating. Look at the snow piled up on the car behind us! Although there were skis available at school, I never learned to ski. I also remember building ice houses from sheets of ice that we would break off the top of snow banks!

Living so far north also meant limited daylight hours during the winter. I can remember walking to and from school in the dark. I don’t remember ever seeing the aurora borealis—the “northern lights.”

When we moved back to California in 1964, I remember thinking how silly it was that we could not go out for recess in the rain!


© 2011 Denise Spurlock