Alaska - Interesting Facts

 

I thought it would be fun to share interesting facts I've learned about Alaska during our first two months here.   If any of them have already been mentioned in a previous post just be nice and act like you're reading it for the first time.  

1.  Private Planes - There are lots of single engine planes here.  It is very noticeable.  It is not unusual to see three or four in the sky at the same time.  You will also see them parked behind houses.  Here are statics from an article in the 01-09-2022 Business Insider Magazine:

• Alaska has 6 times more pilots and 16 times as many aircraft per capita than any other place in the US.
• Alaska has large spans of wilderness that separate 82% of its communities from the state's road system.  
• There are 402 Alaskan communities that rely on planes for year-round access.  In these communities airplanes take the place of school buses, cars, trucks and ambulances.

2. Points North, East, West - Alaska claims the points in the US that are farthest North, East and West.  North makes since to me.  East and West not so much.  It becomes understandable once you become familiar with the 180th meridian.  The meridian at 180 longitude, also known as the International Date Line, divides the earth into eastern and western hemispheres.  The 180th goes through the Aleutian Islands, which are the islands that trail off western Alaska into the Bering Sea.  

• Semisopochnoi Island, Alaska  (circled on the map), is the easternmost point in all U.S. territory by longitude
• Amatignak Island, Alaska (south and a little east on the map) is the westernmost point in all U.S. territories by longitude
• Point Barrow, Alaska is the northernmost point in the United States

3.  Ice Cream - Alaska has the highest consumption of ice cream per capita of any state. I like this statistic.  I've been to Dairy Queen three times in the past month.   Heath Bar Blizzards...YUM!

4.  Day/Night, Light/Dark - The summer solstice is the day with the longest period of daylight and the shortest night of the year.  Winter solstice is opposite; it has the shortest period of daylight and the longest night of the year.  The length of daylight/dark depends on how far north you are.
If you are in far north  Utqiagvik (formerly known as Barrow), Alaska, you will have over 80 days of uninterrupted sunlight in the summer.  However, you pay for it in winter.  Winter in Utqiaqvik means 67 days without sunlight.  When the sun sets in November it doesn't rise above the horizen again until January.

This is not so extreme in Anchorage.  Anchorage has 19 hours of light on the longest day of the year and 6 hours of daylight on the shortest day.

When we were in Anchorage in June apartment hunting sunrise was at 4:24am and sunset at 11:34pm for 19 hours of daylight.  Today (09-30) sunrise is at 8:04am and sunset at 7:33pm for 11 hours of daylight.  Anchorage loses 5 minutes of daylight each day during September and October.

5.  Constitutional Convention - Every 10 years Alaskans vote on whether to hold a constitutional Convention.  Discussion on whether to hold one is going on now.  The question will be on November's ballot.

6.  Northern Lights, / Aurora Borealis - Seeing the Northern Lights is a must on BB's and my list of things to do while in Alaska.  Did you know they are forecasted like the weather?  We use the forecast posted by the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.  

7.  Alaska Size - Alaska is larger than the next three biggest states (Texas, California, Montana) combined. It is larger than the 22 smallest states combined.

Sal