FAIRBANKS -- The temperature in Fairbanks has not reached 50 below zero but this month may be one of the coldest Januaries in community history.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the average temperature through Wednesday was 24.6 below.
That's the coldest since 1971, when January averaged minus 31.7. The coldest average on record was 1906 -- a chilly 36.4 below zero.
National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Berg described the cold this year as "persistent," with temperatures about 15 degrees below normal for much of the month.
The thermometer hit 48 below on Jan. 14 and 15. Fairbanks had 12 days when the low at the airport was 40 below or colder, including a six-day stretch Jan. 13-18.
The daily high has been above zero for just three days.
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