Alaska 'Icemageddon' warning follows heat record in December

The coldest US state of Alaska has recorded its hottest-ever December day. This is amid an unusual winter warm spell. Temperatures soared to a record 19.4 degrees celsius on the island of Kodiak on Sunday almost seven degrees warmer than the state's previous high. Elsewhere in Alaska temperatures have been plunging to record lows. The weather extremes have prompted warnings of an "Icemageddon" from authorities, as torrents of rain and snow have left ice as hard as cement coating the roads.Heavy snowfall was followed by torrential rain that left the region coated with ice as the rain quickly froze, resulting in widespread power failures, road closures, and offices being shut.

According to scientist Rick Thoman of the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy, Normally, December is a dry month in interior Alaska because the usually frigid air cannot hold much moisture. Whatever moisture does flow in tends to be "the more fluffy powder because the air is nice and cold," said Thoman, who lives in Fairbanks. The blasts of warm and wet mid-winter weather have become more frequent in Alaska over the past two decades than in years prior. But warm, soggy episodes are likely to be more common in the future, Thoman predicted.