Fairbanks Sees First Freeze For The Season

Turn up the thermostat. Fire up the woodstove. The party’s over.

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By Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Story Created: Sep 26, 2011 at 8:48 AM AKDT

Story Updated: Sep 26, 2011 at 8:48 AM AKDT

FAIRBANKS — Turn up the thermostat. Fire up the woodstove. The party’s over.

Fairbanks had its first official freeze of the season on Sunday morning. The temperature at the Fairbanks International Airport hit 32 degrees at 7 a.m.

It was the first time since May 14 a freezing temperature was recorded at the airport.

It also was one of the latest first freezes on record. There have been only two times since 1904 with later freezes, according to National Weather Service records for Fairbanks. The latest first freeze on record is Sept. 27, 1974.

The average date of the first freeze at the airport is Sept. 7.

Though the temperature hit the freezing mark, meteorologist Bob Fischer with the National Weather Service in Fairbanks said it wasn’t a particularly hard frost.

“There were some clouds around so maybe that took a little bit of the sting out of it,” he said. “It wasn’t a perfectly clear night.”

A harder frost could be forthcoming in the next few days, if it hasn’t happened already. Low temperatures down to 25 were forecast last night and lows should hover around the freezing mark for the next few days, with highs in the mid-40s.

“No real cool down is imminent yet,” Fischer said. “We’re going to have (low) temperatures near freezing the next couple of nights as we sag down to winter. Highs will be in the 40s until next weekend.”

With the first freezing temperature of the season in the books, the question now is when the first snow will fall.

Fischer said there is no snow in the forecast, yet there’s a good chance Fairbanks may not see any snow in September this year.

Contact staff writer Tim Mowry at 459-7587.

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