Looking to escape the deep freeze this week? Chill out — in Alaska.
The Last Frontier is in the midst of a January warm spell that’s keeping temperatures in the mid-40s in parts of the state that should be about 20 degrees lower.
In comparison, Atlanta’s high Wednesday is expected to reach 36 degrees. Across the Plains through the Midwest and Northeast, temperatures are ranging from below zero to the teens.
Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, has seen temperatures above normal since Jan. 14, reaching a peak of 46 degrees on Friday, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
“This is getting almost near unprecedented,” Christian Cassell, a National Weather Service forecaster in Anchorage, told the newspaper.
Parts of the state have seen freezing rain, not snow. That’s been a problem for ski resorts, which have been left free of significant flakes.
The Alyeska Resort in the Anchorage community of Girdwood went as far as shutting down its slopes Wednesday because of the weather.