{"id":387934,"date":"2021-12-31T11:20:01","date_gmt":"2021-12-31T08:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/alaska-faces-icemageddon-as-temperatures-swing-wildly\/"},"modified":"2021-12-31T11:20:01","modified_gmt":"2021-12-31T08:20:01","slug":"alaska-faces-icemageddon-as-temperatures-swing-wildly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/alaska-faces-icemageddon-as-temperatures-swing-wildly\/","title":{"rendered":"#Alaska faces ‘Icemageddon’ as temperatures swing wildly"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Alaska faces ‘Icemageddon’ as temperatures swing wildly<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n \"A
\n A landscape is seen in September 2019, near Denali, Alaska.
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Extreme weather in Alaska that has brought record high temperatures and torrential downpours has left authorities in the far northern US state warning of “Icemageddon”.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n<\/section>\n

Huge sheets of ice are blocking roads and choking traffic in Fairbanks, Alaska’s second largest city, reported the state’s transportation department, which has coined the neologism\u2014a play on “Armageddon”\u2014to describe the chilly impasse.<\/p>\n

“We’re experiencing an unprecedented series<\/a> of winter storms,” the department tweeted.<\/p>\n

Scientists say the unchecked burning of fossil fuels and other human activity is changing the climate, making it more unpredictable and prone to wild swings. <\/p>\n

Rick Thoman, a weather specialist at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, called the conditions of the past few days “very unusual”. <\/p>\n

Hours after thermometers on Kodiak Island in the south reached 19.4 degrees Celsius (67 Fahrenheit)\u2014the warmest December temperature ever recorded in Alaska\u2014the interior of the state saw 25 millimeters (an inch) of rain fall in just a few hours, a downpour unseen in decades.<\/p>\n

Then when temperatures plummeted again, it all froze.<\/p>\n

The rainstorm was caused by the same weather system that brought the soaring temperatures, transporting warm, moist air from Hawaii to the frigid far north.<\/p>\n

“This kind of thing\u2014record high moisture content, record warm air\u2014is exactly what we expect, of course, in our warming climate.<\/p>\n

Unsettled weather was continuing to play havoc with flights in an out of Sea-Tac International Airport in Seattle, with hundreds of flights canceled or delayed this week.<\/p>\n

In California, snow and persistent rain also continue to cause problems, with localized flooding forcing evacuations in areas around Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

In the north of the state, the tourist magnet of Lake Tahoe\u2014where forest fires a few months ago caused residents to flee\u2014has been buried in heavy snow, leaving some people cut off.<\/p>\n

More than five meters of snow have now fallen on parts of the Sierra Nevada mountain range this month, an all-time record, according to the Central Sierra Nevada Snow Laboratory at University of California at Berkeley.<\/p>\n\n

\n

Drought-hit western US walloped by powerful winter storm\n <\/p><\/div>\n

\n

\n \u00a9 2021 AFP<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Citation<\/strong>:
\n Alaska faces ‘Icemageddon’ as temperatures swing wildly (2021, December 31)
\n retrieved 31 December 2021
\n from https:\/\/phys.org\/news<\/a>\/2021-12-alaska-icemageddon-temperatures-wildly.html<\/p>\n

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
\n part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n