According to the year-end summary by the Alaska Climate Research Center, Alaska had one of its warmest years of the past 100 in 2025. The average temperature of 29.6 degrees Fahrenheit was the warmest year since 2019. Compared with the 1991-2020 averages, Alaska overall was 1.5 degrees warmer in 2025.
While the state as a whole experienced this much warming, some areas, such as the north and Arctic Ocean coast, were as much as 2.7 degrees warmer than average.
Despite the increased annual average temperature, Alaska also experienced some deep cold late in the year. December in Fairbanks was the coldest since records began in 1904. A deep freeze that began the month of December persisted until January 5th of this year. That was the first night that overnight temperatures rose above 15 degrees below zero. It was the fourth longest cold siege on record since 1966 and included 17 days when temperatures dropped below minus 40 degrees.
It seems like a paradox but record cold events can be part of global warming. Global warming brings about changes in climate patterns, not just rises in temperature everywhere. As the Arctic warms faster than the rest of the planet, weather generators like the polar vortex and jet streams can be disrupted, sometimes leading to intense, short-term cold waves.
Climate change leads to more than just warmer temperatures. It also leads to unusual cold weather, major storms, and increased wildfires, all of which Alaska is experiencing.
