News
Warm Temperatures Hit Anchorage
Many taking advantage of warmth to get out
By Lacie Grosvold
ANCHORAGE - Rain and temperatures in the 40s have left a shiny sheen to the snow. The weather also has served as an inspiration for people like Patrese Taylor to get out. "It was getting so cold, I started being homebound," she said during a quick break from ice skating. She and her family rented skates for the week.
With the midday sun glinting off the pond, several families moved around the ice together. Taylor calls it "Norman Rockwell heaven."
Downtown, the ice sculptures outside the Center for Performing Arts were melting. One woman taking photos said, "They're not as detailed as I've seen them."
"They're holding up, but they're melting," said Scott Kraft, who was taking his grandkids around downtown. He said taking them out was more fun when it's not freezing.
But are these mid winter warm-ups unusual? They're actually pretty common, especially for January and December. Dave Snider with the National Weather Service said, "If you look at averages over all the Decembers we've recorded here in Anchorage, there's usually a warming trend in there. It could last for a couple of days... sometimes maybe a bit longer." The record warm temperature for December was set in 1940 when it hit 53 degrees, six degrees above this weekend's 47 degrees.
