Alaska's interior is well known for brutal cold and 55 years ago today its temperature plunged to America's all-time record low.
The temperature hitminus 80 degreesat Prospect Creek Camp, Alaska, on Jan. 23, 1971, which is located north of Fairbanks. That's more than 50 degrees below theJanuary average low of minus 23 degreesat this location from 1970 to 2016, according to the Western Regional Climate Center.
Alaska's most frigid winter temperatures are typically in valley floors in the state's interior, away from the moderating influence of the Gulf of Alaska. Valleys adjacent to mountain ranges are optimal collection points for dense, cold air drainage.
While the Prospect Creek record is impressive, it's still milder (if you can call it that) than the all-time record lows in the Northern Hemisphere and on Earth, according to theWorld Meteorological Organization.
Klinck, Greenland, holds the Northern Hemisphere record, dropping to minus 93.3 degrees on Dec 22, 1991.
The world record is held by Vostok, Antarctica, which plunged to an incredible minus 128.6 degrees on July 21, 1983.
Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him onBluesky,X (formerly Twitter)andFacebook.
