We received a couple more inches of snow overnight, but driving isn't too bad this morning. The roads have slick spots, because our temps have been warmer for a few days, in the mid- to upper-twenties.
But today's forecast is for more snow, with temps falling to around 10° by late afternoon, and then around -5 tonight. That's better, for both walking and driving, as the colder, the less slick.
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There is no news of import outside this immediate area, so I won't bore you with this auto accident, or that restaurant fire.
- Of the 20 highest peaks in the United States, 17 are in Alaska, including the highest peak in North America (20,320 ft. above sea level), Denali.
- Alaska contains more than 100 volcanoes and volcanic fields which have been active within the last two million years.
- Alaska is the only state that does not collect state sales tax or levy an individual income tax (some cities have sales tax, however).
- The fishing and seafood industry is the state’s largest private industry employer.
- The largest salmon ever caught was at the Kenai River. It weighed in at 97.5 pounds.
- There are more than 3,000 rivers and 3 million lakes in Alaska.
- Alaska’s largest lake, Lake Iliamna, is roughly the size of Connecticut.
- Alaska has more coastline than the rest of the United States combined (more than 34,000 miles).
- Alaska has more inland water than any other state (20,171 square miles).
- Alaska is the only state to have coastlines on three different seas: the Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Bering Sea.
- The state bird of Alaska is the willow ptarmigan.
- During the Klondike gold rush in 1897, potatoes were so highly valued for their vitamin C content that miners traded gold for them.
- The only battle during World War II that was fought on American soil took place in 1943 after the Japanese invaded the Aleutian Islands.
- The state sport of Alaska is dog mushing, which was once the primary mode of transportation in most of Alaska. The Iditarod dog sledding race is the state’s largest sporting event.
- More than half the world’s glaciers can be found Alaska.
- About 5 percent of Alaska is covered by the 1,000-plus glaciers in the state.
- Alaska has the lowest population density in the nation at one person per square mile.
- If New York City had the same population density as Alaska, only 16 people would be living in Manhattan.
- Bennie Benson designed Alaska’s flag in 1926 at age 13. It would become the official state flag upon Alaska’s adoption into the Union in 1959.
- Outsiders first discovered Alaska in 1741 when Danish explorer Vitus Jonassen Bering sighted it on a voyage from Siberia.
- Barrow, 800 miles south of the North Pole, has both the longest and shortest day. When the sun rises on May 10, it doesn’t set for nearly three months. When it sets on November 18, Barrow residents do not see the sun again for nearly two months.
- Each year Alaska has about 5,000 earthquakes including 1,000 that measure above 3.5 on the Richter scale. Of the 10 strongest earthquakes ever recorded in the world, three have occurred in Alaska, including a 9.2-magnitude temblor in 1964.
- Giant vegetables are common in Alaska due to the extremely long days in summer. Alaska has grown a record cabbage weighing in at 94 pounds.
- The Pribilof Islands are home to the largest seal colony with over one million seals.
- About 52 percent of Alaskans are men – the highest percentage of any state.
So there: you've been edified. :)
Thanks for stopping by, friends.
