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Weather

Cold Alaskan day with a sundog in the background Photo Credit Sebastian Saarloos

We get an incredible amount of daylight during the summer months here in Delta.  In fact, during the longest days of June, it never really gets dark.  That situation is reversed in December, when there are very, very few hours of light.

The Delta area does not experience a true ‘Midnight Sun’ at the time of the summer solstice, however, it never gets really dark then either.

On June 21 and 22, the longest days of the year, the official sunrise time is 1:14 am. Sunset occurs at 10:16 pm for a total of 21 hours and 2 minutes of sunlight.

Michael Kingston shot this multiple exposure image of the path of the sun at the winter solstice in late December.

In December, it’s not totally dark, either. December 18 (according to the charts) is actually the shortest ‘day’, with sunrise at 9:33 am and sunset at 1:46 pm. That’s 4 hours and 13 minutes of possible sunlight.

At the time of the vernal and autumnal equinox, the Delta area has about the same situation as much of the rest of the country. On March 21, sunrise is at 5:41 am and sunset is at 6:01 pm; on September 21, sunrise is at 5:23 am and sunset at 5:48 pm.

                  
Above: Mt. Hayes on the left  and Mt. Moffitt on the right were taken just after midnight, June 21, 2012. This is our longest day and we are lose minutes each day until December 21. At this time we will  start the upward spiral of gaining minutes again.  Photos Courtesy Michael Kingston
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Local residents tend to “play in the summer” and “sleep in the winter.”  It’s not uncommon during summer months to see people cutting their grass at 10:30 p.m. or visiting neighbors until late in the evening.

Summer is construction season, of course, so Alaskans are hard at it from early until late at that time of the year.  It’s possible to work outdoors even when it is fairly cold, but it just takes longer, so most like to finish their outdoor work before the snows arrive in September and October.

In the winter months, the pace of outdoor activity slows, but even then, some people are up and about before the belated dawn to take advantage of the limited daylight.

Wind
Delta is famous around Interior Alaska for  the wind.  Most days there is at least a gentle breeze, and occasionally it feels like a lite hurricane around here.

Our area does have a lot of wind. Not that it blows all the time, mind you – but ‘windy’ in the Delta/Fort Greely area means 20 miles per hour or more, gusting to 80! Folks hereabouts hardly notice a 15 mile per hour ‘breeze’

The strongest wind ever recorded at Fort Greely was 104 miles per hour – and there have been many readings over 90 miles per hour. The wind does cause some damage, however, most structures are built with consideration for wind stress.

During the dead of winter, ‘Chinook’ winds often blow from the south, out of the Alaska Range, and can bring + 50 degree temperature readings in January! At other times, easterly winds blow from Canada and the upper Tanana Valley and bring wind chill equivalents of -80 to -100 degrees.

Gerstle River Bridge approximately 50 miles south of Delta Junction on the Alaska Highway. (Photo by Randi Owen)

The wind can blow most any time. The Alaska Meteorological Team at Fort Greely reports that winds in excess of 60 miles per hour have been recorded during every month of the year. (But not every month, every year.) On the other hand, many spring and summer days experience calm or light breezes.

Prevailing winds are from the east-southeast September through March; from the west in April; from the southwest in May, June and July, and from the south in August.
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Precipitation

Interior Alaska is not a rainy place at all, although most of our  precipitation does fall during July, August and September.  Winter months are driest.

The average annual precipitation recorded by the Alaska Meteorological Team at Fort Greely, just south of Delta Junction, is 11.12 inches, in over 30 years of record-keeping. This varies around the general area – some places get a little more, some a little less.

Jarvis Creek

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A summer flash flood took out a bridge on the Richardson Highway for several days — an uncommon occurrence around the Delta area. Washout at One Mile Creek south of Delta — July 11, 2000

The trees are covered with hoarfrost. (Photo Courtesy by Michael Kingston)

Average annual snowfall is 40.5 inches and the water content of that snow is included in the total precipitation figure given above.

The snow that falls in Interior Alaska is quite ‘dry’ – an inch of snow melts down to less than one-tenth of an inch of water. (It isn’t much good for building snowmen or for making snowballs.) Early fall and late spring snows, when the air is warmer, usually contain more water.

Winter

Speaking of  winter it does get chilly here at times, but like everywhere else, you just learn to live with it rather than fight it.  Temperatures below zero are the norm for many days during the winter months, and many thermometers aren’t helpful here because they read only to -20F.  A good Delta thermometer ought to reach at least -70F, although thankfully, temperatures below -50F rarely last long.

Winter does have some spectacular parts…like brilliant displays of Northern Lights (aurora borealis).

Some Alaskans even prefer winter to summer….snow sports are very popular here

What’s To Do In Winter At -30 Below

(Fireworks Photo Courtesy Randi Owen)

– Booster Club Christmas Bazaar Sponsored by the Delta High School Booster Club – December

– Festival of Lights &  Polar Bear Plunge takes place in February, Sponsored by the Delta Junction
Chamber of Commerce –  Schedule of events include: spaghetti dinner, dessert auctions, dances, galleria and trade show, old fashioned ice cream parlor by the Delta High School Booster club, dart tournaments, ice art, Relay for Life fundraisers  and fireworks.
– Skiing & Snow machining
– Ice Fishing & Ice Skating
– Hockey, Hockey, Hockey
– Northern Lights Viewing
– School Activities & Sports
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What To Do in Winter at -40 Below

– Throw Hot Coffee into the Air & watch it Freeze!
– Bump along on Square Tires! (The rubber in tires gets hard)

Warning! One of the first signs of cabin fever: feeling the need to sport animal swimwear and modeling it outside at -50. Seek medical attention, you may be in need of a SAD therapy lamp. Photo Courtesy Barb Tharp
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 What’s To Do In Winter At -50 to -70 Below
  • – School buses stop running & School closes when it’s 50 Below at the Bus Barns
    – Hunker down
    – Bake a lot, eat popcorn, read all those good books you have saved, play cards & games
    – Chop more wood & Thaw Pipes
    – Freeze the good tourist stories, so they’re ready to thaw in the summer
-60 the schools are canceled and city offices are closed.
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 Alaska is an awesome place to experience.  Most people visit our fine state during the summer months, but if you really want to experience what it is like to visit Alaska, you need to come to the Interior and experience all the seasons.  We really do have 4 seasons, but spring and fall are so short that they seem to run together with our other 2 seasons, so we just say we have 2 seasons.
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Spring – Can start late April
Summer – June, July, August
Fall – Very short September
Winter –  End of September thru April

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