About Fairbanks North Star County, AK

New regulations adopted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game dramatically effect military hunters and fishermen...fisherwomen too... or is it fisherpeople? Either way, this is great news.

Prior to the new regulations being adopted, folks stationed at Eielson Air Force Base and Fort Wainwright Army Post, that had been in Alaska less than 12 months, were required to pay nonresident fees for a fishing and hunting license and related game tags.

A long overdue change to the ADFoG regulations will allow permanently stationed active-duty military personnel and their families to purchase nonresident hunting and fishing licenses at resident prices. An annual sport fishing license is now $25 and an annual combination sport fishing and hunting license is only $48. Can it get better than that? Sure. Active members of the Alaska National Guard or Reserve may qualify for a free hunting or fishing license.

Although it's a little early to break out your fly rod there's still plenty of time left to bag a few grouse or ptarmagain before the end of the season. Here are a few links to keep you on track and out of the sights of the ADFoG Troopers.

Military License/Tag Informaton (.PDF)

Purhcase Hunting and Fishing Licenses

Small Game Seasons (.PDF)

Big Game Hunting Regulations

Interior Alaska Game Management Units (.PDF)

Sport Fishing Publications (ADFoG)

If you're not a member already, consider joining the Alaska Outdoors Council. It's sole focus is the preservation of outdoor pursuits in Alaska - hunting, fishing, trapping, firearms ownership, and public access - and conservation of the habitats upon which they depend. It's the best $25 you could spend.

Stay safe & God bless.

One of the challenges of living in Alaska is dealing with a sometimes manic Mother Nature. The past couple of weeks we've watched as the temperature hovered between 40 and 65 below zero. Water and sewer lines froze, cars began to break down and people were on the verge of going a little stir crazy from being cooped up inside.

Yesterday Mother Nature changed everything. Warm winds blowing over the Alaska Range from the Gulf of Alaska brought record breaking temps to the Interior. In an instant we went from 62 below zero to nearly 50 above. Eielson Air Force Base, which is about 10 miles from our house, hit 51 degrees. We're all confused... guys are breaking out their fishing gear and women, those of a certain vintage anyway, began putting their unmentionables back in the freezer. Yes, Mother Nature is having a hot flash.

While it may feel like spring, old man winter still has a little fight left in him. These few days of warm weather will give way to a cold blast of 20 below air by Monday night. The good news is the Farmers Almanac predicts a warmer than normal August... you hear that Don? :)

Sometimes I think I've lived here a little too long. Things the rest of the world deems abnormal and simply intolerable I tend not to think too much about. Today, for example, was spent with a great couple who were referred to us by fellow 'Rainer Debbie White in Juneau. Despite the continuing cold we had a full slate of homes to see today.

We are seven days into what is now projected to be a fourteen to sixteen day cold snap. Waking up and seeing the thermometer outside our kitchen window read -54 BELOW zero has become the norm. Now, I just pour myself a cup of coffee, pop some toast in the toaster and fire up the computer to see what's going on in the world without a second thought about the temps.

Around 11:00 I start getting dressed.... It's all about layers when it's this cold... lots of them. Twenty minutes later I'm sufficiently ensconced in enough thermal layers to trek across Antarctica and head out the door. Kathy's on the couch under a sheepskin hide not looking the least bit interested in joining me. Smart woman. I open the garage door, ease the truck out and chuckle as I watch the temperature drop from a toasty 72 above inside the garage to -54 below zero in the time it takes me to get to the end of our driveway.

When it's this cold the ice fog is so thick you can practically cut it with knife and this morning was no exception. Heading in from North Pole visibility was down to less than 30'. It was like driving inside a giant cotton ball and this was with precious little traffic on the road. Monday morning when everyone and their brother heads to work it will be much, much worse.

No real surprises on the tour today... it seems like every house was in various stages of repair due to the cold weather. The second to the last house was -50 below inside. I know that because there was an outdoor thermometer on the counter in the kitchen. With our eyelids beginning to freeze shut as we blinked, we stopped the tour when we found the spa tub full of water and frozen solid. Ice bath anyone?

A stop by Fred Meyers and a quick trip to Barnes and Noble and I was ready to call it a day... Tomorrow, I'm not leaving the house... except, maybe to feed the birds in our backyard. Gotta keep those little fellows well fed. Hope you all are staying warm!

It looks as though we're in for yet MORE lovely cold weather. My meterologist client mentioned in an email earlier that we're very likely to see -60 again in the Interior. As if that's not enough, he says, and I quote "Note that I do see an end to the cold pattern ... models are showing a shift, but it is still going to take at least 8-10 days for the shift to happen." Eight to ten more days? This is starting to feel like the winters of 20 years ago.

Old man winter is beginning to cause serious havock with Interior Alaska residences. Water lines and septic systems are freezing, furnaces and boilers are dying and there have been more plumbing freeze-ups than the plumbing community can keep up with even with extra staff.

I read an article tonight that referenced the coldest places on earth. Imagine my surprise (not) to find that 11 of the 20 coldest places on earth are in Alaska.

Until the weather lifts we're going to do what everyone else is doing... staying inside. Oh, wait... I do have showings tomorrow. The good news is that buyers looking at homes when the temps are hitting 50 below zero MUST be serious. Stay warm, folks. It ain't over yet!

Well, we're in day three of a projected ten day cold snap. Lovely. It seems every time I tune into the National Weather Service they are predicting colder temperatures. For new Alaskans this stuff is starting to lose it's charm. The first day it's like "Wow, this is cool" but by day three most cheechakos are starting to think their plan of living in the Last Frontier might not have been such a hot idea, pardon the pun.

A client with a background in meteorology sent me the following note in an email yesterday...

ANOTHER WEAK LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO RETROGRADE OUT OF THE HIGH CANADIAN ARCTIC AND INTO NORTHWESTERN ALASKA EARLY THIS WEEKEND....PLUNGING TEMPERATURES EVEN FURTHER IN CLEAR AREAS OF THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN INTERIOR... VALLEY TEMPERATURES COULD DROP BELOW 65 BELOW IN SOME CLEAR SPOTS THIS WEEKEND.

This isn't my first time around the arctic rodeo. I've stood on the Yukon River, hundreds of miles from the nearest human, and watched the wind howl like the devil himself at -80. While I do like to joke about the dropping temps, this weather is certainly no joking matter. This morning it was -48 in Fairbanks and North Pole and apparently it's only going to get colder. This is life threatening cold, folks.

Think of it this way... at -45, the air outside is 143.6 degrees colder than your core body temperature.

My best advice? Stay home and don't venture out unless you absolutely have to. If you do have to go out, make sure to wear your best winter gear... keep every body part your fond of covered (children need extra protection in this weather)... make sure your cell phone is charged and with you... keep your fuel tanks full... and if you have pets, make them wear their little booties and a sweater when they go outside (yes, I know they will probably hate it).

This is the view that greeted me at about Noon yesterday. The sun was trying to come up but just wasn't there yet.

This is at about 12:45 and unfortunately this is about as high as it gets in Alaska in the winter. Two hours later it was gone.

This is ice fog... you would never know from this picture that the tallest building in Fairbanks, Alaska is just behind the building to the left. Amazing, isn't it?