Cold/Wind Chill — Central Copper Valley, Alaska

2026-01-02 to 2026-01-04 · Central Copper Valley, Alaska

Event narrative

The Gulkana ASOS (PAGK) reported extremely cold wind chills below -55F starting 8:00 PM AKST January 2. After a brief warmup the afternoon of January 3, wind chills plunged to reach a minimum of -72F the morning of January 4. Wind chills warmed above -55F the evening of January 4.

Wider weather episode

A very cold Arctic airmass over the Yukon/Northwest Territories of Canada developed under clear skies in the first days of January. The cold, dense air filtered into the Copper River Basin, leading to two main periods of extremely cold wind chills below -55F in the central Copper Valley.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1312085. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.