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73-524: The Alaska Loyal League was a small group of Fairbanks businessmen who were instrumental in supporting early Tanana Valley agriculture and enterprise. They included: A. Browning; George Coleman, manager of the Northern Commercial Company ; F.S. Gordon, a merchant; H.B. Parkin, Fairbanks Meat Company transportation agent; E.R. Peoples, merchant; Harry E. St. George, real estate agent; William Fentress Thompson, editor and publisher of

146-470: A bachelor's degree or higher. Compared to communities of similar population, Fairbanks' crime rate (violent and property crimes combined) is higher than Alaska's average, which in turn is higher than the U.S. average. Fairbanks is ranked the least safe city in Alaska by neighborhoodscout.com. (only including Fairbanks Police Department) Fairbanks similarly has a rate of rape and sexual assault three times

219-545: A district connected to the rest of Fairbanks by bridges and culverted roads. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has an area of 32.7 square miles (85 km ); 31.9 square miles (83 km ) of it is land and 0.8 square miles (2.1 km ) of it (2.48%) is water. The city is extremely far north, close to 16 degrees north of the Pacific border between the U.S. and Canada . It

292-418: A household between 2007 and 2011 was $ 55,409. Males had a median income of $ 30,539 versus $ 26,577 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 19,814. About 7.4% of families and 10.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.6% of those under age 18 and 7.0% of those age 65 or over. The percentage of high school graduates or higher is 88%. 20.4% of the population 25 years and up had

365-923: A junior hockey team in the North American Hockey League, play at the Big Dipper Ice Arena. Prior to the formation of the Ice Dogs, the Fairbanks Gold Kings was formed as a league team by the Teamsters Local 959 in 1974. The team took on a life of its own beyond local league play, and played out of the Big Dipper for many years until moving to Colorado Springs, Colorado and becoming the Colorado Gold Kings in 1998. The Alaska Goldpanners

438-542: A local hotel and visit one or more attractions. Tourism the rest of the year is mostly concentrated around the winter season, centered upon the northern lights , ice carving and winter sports. In addition, other events draw visitors from within Alaska, mostly from the community's trading area throughout Interior Alaska and the North Slope . Attractions include: Fairbanks offers a variety of winter sports, including cross-country skiing and dog mushing. The city hosted

511-403: A negative phase to a positive phase from 1976 onward. See or edit raw graph data . Fairbanks first appeared on the 1910 U.S. Census as an incorporated city and as Alaska's largest city. It was incorporated in 1903. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the population of the city in 2011 was 32,036 people, 11,075 households, and 7,187 families residing in the city. The population density

584-475: A snowfall of 147.3 inches (3.74 m), while the least snowy period recorded was from July 1918 to June 1919 with a snowfall of only 12.0 inches (0.30 m). The average first and last dates with a freezing temperature are September 11 and May 14, respectively, allowing an average growing season of 119 days. However, freezes have occurred in June, July, and August; the last light frost is often in early June; and

657-802: A supply point for the oil field, as well as for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System . With the establishment of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in 1964, the city became borough seat. Tourism is also a factor in Fairbanks' economy. Fairbanks is in the Tanana Valley , straddling the Chena River near its confluence with the Tanana River . The Tanana River marks the city's southern border, and

730-669: A wagon road. In the 1920s, it was improved further and made navigable by automobiles, but it was not paved until 1957. Fairbanks' road connections were improved in 1927, when the 161-mile (259 km) Steese Highway connected the city to the Yukon River at the gold-mining community of Circle . In 1942, the Alaska Highway connected the Richardson Highway to the Canadian road system, allowing road travel from

803-587: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska , United States. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the population of the city proper at 32,515 and the population of the Fairbanks North Star Borough at 95,655, making it

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876-553: Is a summer collegiate / semi-pro baseball team, playing home games at Growden Memorial Park . The park is home to the annual Midnight Sun Game , an annual tradition since 1906, played without artificial lights starting after ten at night on the summer solstice. The city was briefly represented in the Indoor Football League by the Fairbanks Grizzlies . Fairbanks is the starting and ending point for

949-496: Is in operation today. In summer, the railroad operates tourist trains to and from Fairbanks, and it operates occasional passenger trains throughout the year. The majority of its business through Fairbanks is freight. The railroad is planning an expansion of the rail line from Fairbanks to connect the city via rail with Delta Junction , about 100 miles (160 km) southeast. As the transportation hub for Interior Alaska, Fairbanks features extensive road, rail, and air connections to

1022-672: Is in the central Tanana Valley , straddling the Chena River near its confluence with the Tanana River . Immediately north of the city is a chain of hills that rises gradually until it reaches the White Mountains and the Yukon River . The city's southern border is the Tanana River. South of the river is the Tanana Flats, an area of marsh and bog that stretches for more than 100 miles (160 km) until it rises into

1095-694: Is named for Harry Markley Badger, an early resident of Fairbanks who later established a farm along the road and became known as "the Strawberry King". Ballaine and McGrath Roads, side roads of Farmers Loop Road, were also named for prominent local farmers, whose farms were in the immediate vicinity of their respective namesake roads. Despite early efforts by the Alaska Loyal League , the Tanana Valley Agriculture Association and William Fentress Thompson,

1168-643: Is on roughly the same parallel as the northern Swedish city of Skellefteå and Finnish city of Oulu , just south of the Arctic Circle . Because of this, the white night or "Midnight Sun" phenomenon occurs here around the summer solstice. Due to its warm summers, Fairbanks is south of the arctic tree line . Fairbanks's climate is classified as a humid continental climate bordering on a subarctic climate ( Köppen Dfb bordering on Dfc , Trewartha Dclc bordering on Eclc ), with long, very cold winters and short, warm summers. October through February are

1241-595: Is politically conservative, with three distinct geographical areas representing different political perspectives. The western part of the city, centered on the University of Alaska Fairbanks , leans toward the Democratic Party. The downtown area and the eastern parts near Fort Wainwright lean slightly toward the Republican Party. The North Pole area farther east is heavily Republican and one of

1314-631: Is the largest university in the state, with approximately 15,000 full- and part-time students across all of its campuses. Roughly two thirds of University of Alaska students attend UAA. There are twelve Colleges within UAA, four of which are community campuses in Valdez , Kenai Peninsula ( Soldotna and Homer ), Kodiak , and the Mat-Su . UAA has thirteen different sports through the NCAA , and competes nationally as

1387-437: Is −58 °F (−50 °C) on January 18, 1906, and the record warm daily minimum is 76 °F (24 °C) on June 26, 1915; the only other occurrence of a 70 °F (21 °C) daily minimum was June 25, 2013, in the midst of a particularly warm summer. These widely varying temperature extremes are due to three main factors: temperature inversions , daylight, and wind direction. In winter, Fairbanks' low-lying location at

1460-545: The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner ; and R.C. Wood, a banker. In April 1917, the League hosted a Farmers' Day lunch and convention, for the purpose of organizing area agriculturalists and making the valley agriculturally self-sufficient. They were behind the formation of a short-lived Farmers Bank, the Tanana Valley Agriculture Association, and later a Flouring Mill Corporation. This Alaska-related article

1533-627: The 2014 Arctic Winter Games from March 15–22, 2014. Fairbanks has also held skiing events that include the 2003 Junior Olympic Cross Country Ski Championship and the 2008 and 2009 U.S. Cross Country Distance Nationals. A 50k race called the Sonot Kkaazoot is held annually in Fairbanks, as are the Fairbanks Town Series races and the Chest Medicine Distance Series races. Fairbanks is also home to

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1606-610: The Alaska Range , which is visible from Fairbanks on clear days. To the east and west are low valleys separated by ridges of hills up to 3,000 feet (910 m) above sea level. The Tanana Valley is crossed by many low streams and rivers that flow into the Tanana River. In Fairbanks, the Chena River flows southwest until it empties into the Tanana. Noyes Slough, which heads and foots off the Chena River, creates Garden Island,

1679-903: The Dalton Highway , which ends in Deadhorse on the North Slope. West of the Dalton intersection, the Elliott Highway extends to Manley Hot Springs on the Tanana River. To improve logistics in Fairbanks during construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline , the George Parks Highway was built between Fairbanks and Palmer in 1971. Until 1940, none of Fairbanks' surface streets were paved. The outbreak of World War II interrupted plans to pave most of

1752-599: The Great Depression as the price of gold increased. During the 1940s and 1950s, the city became a staging area for the construction of military depots during World War II and the Cold War . Fort Wainwright , previously named Ladd Field , was built east of the city beginning in 1938 and is operated by the U.S. Army . After the discovery of the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field in 1968, the city became

1825-876: The School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences , which has facilities and research projects all over Alaska and the Arctic Ocean. It is the first university founded in Alaska and is the flagship institution of the University of Alaska system. The University of Alaska Fairbanks also has five satellite campuses in Fairbanks: the Bristol Bay Campus in Dillingham , the Chukchi Campus in Kotzebue ,

1898-536: The Tanana Valley , but mostly to the southeast of Fairbanks in the communities of Salcha and Delta Junction . During the early days of Fairbanks, its vicinity was a major producer of agricultural goods. What is now the northern reaches of South Fairbanks was originally the farm of Paul J. Rickert, who came from nearby Chena in 1904 and operated a large farm until his death in 1938. Farmers Loop Road and Badger Road, loop roads north and east (respectively) of Fairbanks, were also home to major farming activity. Badger Road

1971-631: The Yukon Quest , an international 1,000 mile sled dog race that is considered one of the toughest in the world. The race alternates its starting and finishing points each year between Fairbanks, Alaska and Whitehorse, Yukon. Hockey is also present in Fairbanks. Two teams include the University of Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks men's team ice hockey, which plays at the Carlson Center , and the Fairbanks Ice Dogs. The Fairbanks Ice Dogs ,

2044-686: The Bering Strait land bridge in deep antiquity. Captain E. T. Barnette founded Fairbanks in August 1901 while headed to Tanacross (or Tanana Crossing, where the Valdez–Eagle trail crossed the Tanana River ), where he intended to set up a trading post. The steamboat on which Barnette was a passenger, the Lavelle Young , ran aground while attempting to negotiate shallow water. Barnette, along with his party and supplies, were deposited along

2117-631: The Fairbanks North Star Borough was 95,655. The racial makeup of the North Star Borough was 68.9% White, 4.1% Black, 7.9% Alaska Native or Native American, 3.2% Asian, 0.6% Pacific Islander; 7.6% identified as Hispanic or Latino, and 12.7% identified as two or more races. Of the 11,075 households, 39.9% had children under the age of 18, 47.2% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.1% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.0% had someone living alone who

2190-751: The Gulf of Alaska, home to the Alaska Central Railway . In 1914, the U.S. Congress appropriated $ 35 million for construction of the Alaska Railroad system, but work was delayed by the outbreak of World War I. Three years later, the Alaska Railroad purchased the Tanana Valley Railroad, which had suffered from the wartime economic problems. Rail workers built a line extending northwest from Fairbanks, then south to Nenana , where President Warren G. Harding hammered in

2263-852: The Interior Alaska Campus (based in Fairbanks but serving rural communities across Interior Alaska ), the Kuskokwim Campus in Bethel , and the Northwest Campus in Nome . The Kuskokwim Campus also operates a remote learning center in Hooper Bay . The University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) is located in the state's capital, Juneau, and is the smallest system. Although it has campuses in Juneau , Sitka , and Ketchikan ,

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2336-517: The Seawolves. The Carnegie Foundation has classified the institution as a community-engaged campus with high enrollments in undergraduate programs, and a balance among arts, sciences, and professional preparation. Alaska's only medical school or WWAMI program is also administered through the Anchorage campus. The campus is also home to the only FAA-approved collegiate flight training program in

2409-637: The Tanana Flats, a large area of marsh and bog, is south of the river. Fairbanks is the coldest city in the United States with a population of at least 10,000 people. Monthly mean temperatures range from −8.3 °F (−22.4 °C) in January to 62.9 °F (17.2 °C) in July. In winter, Fairbanks' location in the Tanana Valley causes cold air to accumulate in the city and warm air to rise up

2482-503: The United States with regularly scheduled non-stop international flights . Athabascan peoples have used the area for thousands of years , although there is no known permanent Alaska Native settlement at the site of Fairbanks. An archaeological site excavated on the grounds of the University of Alaska Fairbanks uncovered a Native camp about 3,500 years old, with older remains found at deeper levels. From evidence gathered at

2555-434: The University of Alaska system are: Since the population of Alaska is smaller than that of most U.S. states , the University of Alaska System is also relatively small. However, it does have several notable academic departments. At UAF, these are the geology department, the atmospheric sciences department, and the wildlife biology department. Reflecting the state's small population, the amount of federal land granted to

2628-559: The University of Alaska under the Morrill Act was the second-smallest grant in the country. The University of Alaska is formally established under Article VII of the Alaska State Constitution . Article VII also establishes a board of regents, appointed by the state's governor and confirmed by the state's legislature , that is tasked with governing the university. All regents serve eight-year terms, except for

2701-557: The Yukon 800 speedboat race, held annually in June. Alaska State Parks operates the Chena River State Recreation Site , a 29-acre (0.12 km ) park in the middle of Fairbanks with a campground, trails, and a boat launch. Fairbanks is a regional center for most departments of the state of Alaska, though the vast majority of state jobs are based in either Anchorage or Juneau. The majority of Fairbanks

2774-404: The banks of the Chena River 7 miles (11 km) upstream from its confluence with the Tanana River. The sight of smoke from the steamer's engines caught the attention of gold prospectors working in the hills to the north, most notably an Italian immigrant named Felice Pedroni (better known as Felix Pedro ) and his partner Tom Gilmore. The two met Barnette where he disembarked and convinced him of

2847-402: The bottom of the Tanana Valley causes cold air to accumulate in and around the city. Warmer air rises to the tops of the hills north of Fairbanks, while the city itself experiences one of the biggest temperature inversions on Earth. Heating through sunlight is limited because of Fairbanks's high-latitude location. At the winter solstice , the center of the sun's disk is less than two degrees over

2920-425: The ceremonial final spike in 1923. The rail yards of the Tanana Valley Railroad were converted for use by the Alaska Railroad, and Fairbanks became the northern end of the line and its second-largest depot. From 1923 to 2004, the Alaska Railroad's Fairbanks terminal was in downtown Fairbanks, just north of the Chena River. In May 2005, the Alaska Railroad opened a new terminal northwest of downtown, and that terminal

2993-442: The chinook wind, Fairbanks experiences a handful of other unusual meteorological conditions. In summer, dense wildfire smoke accumulates in the Tanana Valley, affecting the weather and causing health concerns. When temperature inversions arise in winter, heavy ice fog often results. Ice fog occurs when air is too cold to absorb additional moisture, such as that released by automobile engines or human breath. Instead of dissipating,

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3066-408: The city's roads, and a movement toward large-scale paving did not begin until 1953, when the city paved 30 blocks of streets. During the late 1950s and the 1960s, the remainder of the city's streets were converted from gravel roads to asphalt surfaces. Few have been repaved since that time; a 2008 survey of city streets indicated the average age of a street in Fairbanks was 31 years. Fairbanks

3139-433: The city, bending trees still laden with fall leaves. That September was also one of the snowiest on record, as 24 inches (61 cm) fell, compared to the 1991-2020 median of only a trace during the month. November and December are the snowiest months, while in contrast, March and April are not very snowy and are typically very dry months in central Alaska. The snowiest season on record lasted from July 1990 to June 1991 with

3212-459: The editor-publisher of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner , to encourage food production, agriculture in the area was never able to fully support the population, although it came close in the 1920s. The construction of Ladd Army Airfield starting in 1939, part of a larger effort by the federal government during the New Deal and World War II to install major infrastructure in the territory for

3285-514: The first light fall frost is often in late August or early September. The plant hardiness zone is 2 with annual mean minimums below -40. Fairbanks is the coldest city in the United States among cities with a population of at least 10,000 people. Normal monthly mean temperatures range from −8.3 °F (−22.4 °C) in January to 62.9 °F (17.2 °C) in July. On average, temperatures reach −40 °F (−40 °C) and 80 °F (27 °C) on 7.0 and 13 days annually, respectively, and

3358-548: The first steam locomotive in the Yukon Territory. In 1907, the railroad was reorganized and named the Tanana Valley Railroad . The railroad continued expanding until 1910, when the first gold boom began to falter and the introduction of automobiles into Fairbanks took business away from the railroad. Despite these problems, railroad backers envisioned a rail line extending from Fairbanks to Seward on

3431-414: The first time, fostered an economic and population boom in Fairbanks which extended beyond the end of the war. In the 1940s the Canol pipeline extended north from Whitehorse for a few years. The Haines - Fairbanks 626 mile long 8" petroleum products pipeline was constructed during the period 1953–55. The presence of the U.S. military has remained strong in Fairbanks. Ladd became Fort Wainwright in 1960;

3504-404: The hills to the north, and the city experiences one of the biggest temperature inversions on Earth. Fairbanks is home to the University of Alaska Fairbanks , the founding campus of the University of Alaska system , established in 1917. Fairbanks International Airport is located three miles (4.8 km) southwest of the central business district of the city; Fairbanks is the smallest city in

3577-408: The horizon (1.7 degrees) at the local noon (not the time zone noon). Fairbanks experiences 3 hours and 41 minutes of sunlight on December 21 and 22. At the summer solstice, about 182 days later, on June 20 and 21, Fairbanks receives 21 hours and 49 minutes of sunlight. After sunset, twilight is bright enough to allow daytime activities without any electric lights, since the center of

3650-400: The last winter that failed to reach the former mark was that of 2022–23. Between 1995 and 2008, inclusive, Fairbanks failed to record a temperature of 90 °F or 32 °C. The highest recorded temperature in Fairbanks was 99 °F (37 °C) on July 28, 1919, just a degree cooler than Alaska-wide record high temperature of 100 °F (38 °C), recorded in Fort Yukon . The lowest

3723-421: The most conservative parts of the state. Thus, many residents have noted that a neighborhood's position on the map of Fairbanks (west to east) mirrors its political orientation (left to right). University of Alaska system Each of the three main universities has several satellite campuses in smaller communities. UAA also operates three large satellite community colleges. The three major institutions in

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3796-547: The national average, and in 2010 was ranked the third most dangerous U.S. city for women with 70 rapes per 100,000 inhabitants. Doyon, Limited , an oil services company, is based in Fairbanks. The city of Fairbanks and the greater Fairbanks area is home to a number of attractions and events, which draw visitors from outside of Alaska throughout the year. Summer tourist traffic primarily consists of cruise ship passengers who purchase package tours which include travel to Fairbanks. Many of these tourists spend one or more nights at

3869-416: The post was annexed into Fairbanks city limits during the 1980s. Fairbanks suffered from several floods in its first seven decades, whether from ice jams during spring breakup or heavy rainfall. The first bridge crossing the Chena River, a wooden structure built in 1904 to extend Turner Street northward to connect with the wagon roads leading to the gold mining camps, often washed out before a permanent bridge

3942-422: The potential of the area. Barnette set up his trading post at the site, still intending to eventually make it to Tanacross. Teams of gold prospectors soon congregated in and around the newly founded Fairbanks; they built drift mines, dredges, and lode mines in addition to panning and sluicing. After some urging by James Wickersham , who later moved the seat of the Third Division court from Eagle to Fairbanks,

4015-459: The record warm January 1981, Fairbanks' average maximum temperature was 28.7 °F (−1.8 °C) and 15 days that month had high temperatures above freezing. Meanwhile, during a spell of sustained chinook winds from December 4 to 8, 1934, the temperature topped 50 °F (10 °C) for five consecutive days. Unusual for such a cold place, Fairbanks has experienced temperatures of 50 °F (10 °C) or higher in all 12 months. In addition to

4088-410: The rest of Alaska and outside of Alaska. At Fairbanks' founding, the only way to reach the new city was via steamboat on the Chena River. In 1904, money intended to improve the Valdez-Eagle Trail was diverted to build a branch trail, giving Fairbanks its first overland connection to the outside world. The resulting Richardson Highway was created in 1910 after Gen. Wilds P. Richardson upgraded it to

4161-405: The rest of the United States to Fairbanks, which is considered the unofficial end of the highway. Because of World War II, civilian traffic was not permitted on the highway until 1948. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a series of roads were built to connect Fairbanks to the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay. The Elliott Highway was built in 1957 to connect Fairbanks to Livengood , southern terminus of

4234-399: The season with the highest increase, at 8.1 °F (4.5 °C), while autumn had the smallest, at only 1.5 °F (0.83 °C). However, the mean annual temperature increase from 1976 to 2018 in Fairbanks stood at a more moderate 0.7 °F (0.39 °C); this stepwise temperature change, also observed elsewhere in Alaska, is explained by the Pacific Decadal Oscillation shifting from

4307-405: The second most populous metropolitan area in Alaska after Anchorage . The Metropolitan Statistical Area encompasses all of the Fairbanks North Star Borough and is the northernmost Metropolitan Statistical Area in the United States, located 196 miles (315 kilometers) by road (140 mi or 230 km by air) south of the Arctic Circle . In August 1901, E. T. Barnette founded a trading post on

4380-469: The settlement was named after Charles W. Fairbanks , a Republican senator from Indiana and later the twenty-sixth vice president of the United States, serving under Theodore Roosevelt during his second term. In these early years of settlement, the Tanana Valley was an important agricultural center for Alaska until the establishment of the Matanuska Valley Colonization Project and the town of Palmer in 1935. Agricultural activity still occurs today in

4453-456: The site, archaeologists surmise that Native activities in the area were limited to seasonal hunting and fishing as frigid temperatures precluded berry gathering. In addition, archaeological sites on the grounds of nearby Fort Wainwright date back well over 10,000 years. Arrowheads excavated from the University of Alaska Fairbanks site matched similar items found in Asia, providing some of the first evidence that humans arrived in North America via

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4526-533: The snowiest months, and there is usually additional snow from March to May. On average, the season's first accumulating snowfall and first inch of snow fall on October 1 and 11, respectively; the average last inch and last accumulating snowfall are respectively on March 29 and April 15, though there can be snow flurries in May. The snowpack is established by October 18, on average, and remains until April 23. Snow occasionally arrives early and in large amounts. On September 13, 1992, 8 inches (20 cm) of snow fell in

4599-411: The south bank of the Chena River . A gold discovery near the trading post sparked the Fairbanks Gold Rush , and many miners moved to the area. There was a boom in construction, and in November 1903, the area's residents voted to incorporate Fairbanks as a city. Barnette became the first mayor, and the city flourished during the gold rush. By World War I , the population had plunged, but rose again during

4672-405: The state. The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) was known officially as the University of Alaska from 1925 to 1975. UAF is home to the noted Geophysical Institute , which operates the Poker Flat Research Range , a collegiate rocket test range. Until 2015, there was also the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center , the location of the only Cray supercomputer in the Arctic region. There is also

4745-470: The student regent, who is nominated by the three main campuses for a two-year term. The board selects a university president who oversees the statewide administration. Under the president, responsibility for the three main universities is assigned to their respective chancellors. There is also the Coalition of Student Leaders, a group of representatives from the UA student governments that advocates for student issues. The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA)

4818-422: The sun's disk is just 1.7 degrees below horizon. During winter, the direction of the wind also causes large temperature swings in Fairbanks. When the wind blows from any direction but the south, average weather ensues. Wind from the south can carry warm, moist air from the Gulf of Alaska, greatly warming temperatures. When coupled with a chinook wind , temperatures well above freezing often result. For example, in

4891-463: The water freezes into microscopic crystals that are suspended in the air, forming fog. Another one of Fairbanks' unusual occurrences is the prevalence of the aurora borealis , commonly called the northern lights, which are visible on average more than 200 days per year in the vicinity of Fairbanks. The northern lights are not visible in the summer months due to the 24 hour daylight of the midnight sun. Fairbanks also has extremely low seasonal lag ;

4964-401: The year's warmest month is July, which averages only 1.9 °F (1.1 °C) warmer than June. Average daily temperatures begin to fall by late July and more markedly in August, which on average is 4.0 °F (2.2 °C) cooler than June. From 1949 to 2018, Fairbanks's mean annual temperature has risen by 3.9 °F (2.2 °C), a change comparable to the Alaska-wide average; winter was

5037-465: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.15. The median age of the population was 28 years, with 9.6% under the age of 5, 26.0% under the age of 18, 14.7% from 18 to 24, 32.8% from 25 to 44, 16.4% from 45 to 64, and 7.3% who were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 105.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 108.2 males. The median income for

5110-468: Was 995 inhabitants per square mile (384/km ). There were 12,357 housing units at an average density of 387.9 units per square mile (149.8 units/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 57.5% White , 7.42% Black or African American , 8.63% Native American or Alaska Native , 4.21% Asian , 0.7% Pacific Islander . In addition, 11% of the population identified as Hispanic or Latino , and 9.48% identified as two or more races . The population estimate for

5183-459: Was constructed at Cushman Street in 1917 by the Alaska Road Commission . On August 14, 1967, after record rainfall upstream, the Chena began to surge over its banks, flooding almost the entire town of Fairbanks overnight. This disaster led to the creation of the Chena River Lakes Flood Control Project, which built and operates the 50-foot-high (15 m) Moose Creek Dam in the Chena River and accompanying 8-mile-long (13 km) spillway. The project

5256-644: Was designed to prevent a repetition of the 1967 flood by being able to divert water in the Chena upstream from Fairbanks into the Tanana River, thus bypassing the city. After large-scale gold mining began north of Fairbanks, miners wanted to build a railroad from the steamboat docks on the Chena River to the mine sites in the hills north of the city. The result was the Tanana Mines Railroad, which started operations in September 1905, using what had been

5329-568: Was −66 °F (−54 °C) on January 14, 1934 . The warmest calendar year in Fairbanks was 2019, when the average annual temperature was 32.5 °F (0.3 °C), while the coldest was 1956 with an annual mean temperature of 21.3 °F (−5.9 °C). The warmest month has been July 1975 with a monthly mean of 68.4 °F (20.2 °C) and the coldest January 1906 which averaged −36.4 °F (−38.0 °C). Low temperatures below 0 °F or −18 °C have been recorded in every month outside June through September. The record cold daily maximum

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