Cold/Wind Chill — Southern Copper Valley, Alaska

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

Event narrative

A weather sensor on the Chitina Airport recorded very cold wind chills below -55F between January 2 and January 5. Ambient temperatures of -35F to -40F combined with northerly winds of 10 to 20 mph to produce wind chills of -60F to -70F during the aforementioned period. Observations were unavailable from 4:30 AM to 10:50 AM AKST January 4, however.

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 1312087. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.