Category: Eye on the Sky
The darkest days of the year are not helped by the fact that they are also the cloudiest. This darkness is complete across the arctic regions, and nearly so in the sub-arctic, providing an increasing source of cold air that causes the average temperatures to drop nearly 15 degrees, and… Read More
October Weather
Autumn’s stumbling progression is the very essence of October. There are moments still of grace and reprieve, enough that a true optimist might still hope beyond hope that the frost will wait another month. There are days of dark, laden skies, the clouds like a cloak that weighs us down… Read More
September Weather
When the calendar flips to September, we expect change, though we are not always ready to accept it. The key to all of the changes in September is the loss of daylight hours, amounting to 90 minutes or so. The longer nights and shorter days set the stage for cooler… Read More
July Weather
With our weather’s reputation for such variety and changeability, it is hard to imagine there is a time that it ever quiets down. However, the heart of summer in July features some of our laziest weather patterns. But we are not alone in this situation, for the better part of… Read More
May Weather
May’s beauty is more than just a poet’s notion. Apples and lilacs perfume the air, the trees and meadows display every shade of green possible, and the fresh blue skies are not yet spoiled with summer haze. The gardens are being planted, and the first fields are mown for hay. … Read More
Skywatch Astronomy
In March, Orion settles into the southwest for some great evening views. The evenings also feature the Big Dipper rising in the northeast, looking like a giant question mark. Follow the “handle” toward the horizon, where the star Arcturus rises by 9 o’clock. Venus sits quite low in the east… Read More
March 1, 4:00 – 5:30PM
125 years of weather observation! On March 1st, 1894, the Fairbanks Museum was officially accepted as an observation site for the US Weather Bureau. Join us as we celebrate this milestone! At 4:00 our Eye on the Sky team marks the anniversary by taking the daily weather observations. A reception… Read More
January Weather
The month of January is named after the Roman god “Janus”, the two-faced deity, often associated with doors. Of course we could also apply this to January’s weather, which commands the coldest and snowiest weather most every winter. Yet within the month is winter’s contradiction, the January thaw. Though it… Read More
December Weather
More so than any other month during the winter, snow is welcomed by most in December. Perhaps it is because the cliché of a white Christmas is thrust upon us with every greeting card and every holiday advertisement. But I suspect there is more to it than that. Consider the… Read More
November Weather
November was known to the Anglo-Saxons as “winde monathe”, a tribute to the increase of storms this time of year. Lingering warmth in the southern states and in the oceans, represents a lot of energy and moisture. Should an early outbreak of cold collide with the warmth, then a major… Read More