Temperatures fall to minus 50 degrees in Fairbanks!

Small air carriers cancel flights.

FAIRBANKS, Alaska - January 28, 2012 - Winter continued to show her love of Interior Alaska by bestowing yet another cold snap on its beleaguered residents this weekend.

The temperature at Fairbanks International Airport hit 50 below zero Saturday morning for the first time since 2006, while a low of 57 below was reported in North Pole.

Fort Yukon and Huslia were the coldest Interior communities at 63 below zero. Tanana hit 61 below zero Saturday morning. Bettles, at 60 below, broke its previous record of 56 below, which was set in 1989.

The cold temperatures also brought ice fog, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a dense fog advisory for the middle Tanana Valley. Visibility was a quarter of a mile or less with the possibility of being reduced to near zero, according to the advisory, and drivers were cautioned to reduce speed and use low-beam headlights.

The double-whammy of cold and ice fog forced smaller airlines to cancel all flights in and out of Fairbanks and other Interior communities.

“If visibility is less than a quarter of a mile, we don’t fly. Plus, with the weather the way it is, the temperature, it’s not good for us to fly. It’s too hard on the aircraft,” said Mike Ontiveros, cargo manager for Warbelow’s Air Ventures.

Ontiveros said that flights for today had not been canceled.

“As of now we’re scheduled to fly (today), but again, we’re not going to make that decision until the morning,” Ontiveros said.

Wright Air Service and Era Aviation also canceled all Interior flights until temperatures and visibility improves. Alaska Airlines had not canceled any flights as of Saturday afternoon but recommended people check their flight status online.

The cold also caused the cancellation of several area sporting events. The Alaska Dog Mushers Association’s Annamaet Challenge Series Race No. 4 was canceled Saturday, and the Flint Hills Resources Town Race Series, the Kendall Subaru of Fairbanks Classic, was postponed from Saturday to today in the hopes that the weather would warm up.

One event that was not canceled was the Running Club North’s Chilly Buns Mid-Winter Run near the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Five people ran the 6.5 mile race, with a temperature of 49 below zero recorded at start time.

The cold may be intense but the misery should be brief, according to Julie Malingowski, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Fairbanks office.

“We’re looking for one more cold night tonight, then things are going to start warming up on Monday - we’re expecting highs of 10 to 15 below,” Malingowski said. “It will still get cold in the evenings, but it will definitely be warmer in the hills.”

Malingowski predicted that Fairbanks would be “lucky” to see a high of 40 below zero Saturday.