Snag, Yukon
Snag | |
|---|---|
 Location east of Beaver Creek, Yukon | |
  Snag Location of Snag  Snag Snag (Canada)  Snag Snag (North America) | |
| Coordinates: 62°23′0″N 140°22′0″W / 62.38333°N 140.36667°W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Territory | Yukon |
| Population (2006) | |
• Total | 0 (closed) |
| Time zone | UTC−07:00 (MST) |
| Area code | 867 |
Snag is a village located on a small, dry-weather sideroad off the Alaska Highway, 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of Beaver Creek, Yukon, Canada. The village of Snag is located in a bowl-shaped valley of the White River and its tributaries, including Snag Creek. It was first settled during the Klondike Gold Rush. An aboriginal village was also located approximately 8 kilometres (5 mi) away. It was the site of a military airfield, established as part of the Northwest Staging Route, which closed in 1968. In 1947, the village of Snag boasted a population of eight to ten First Nation people and fur traders. An additional staff of fifteen to twenty airport personnel — meteorologists, radio operators, aircraft maintenance men — lived at the airport barracks.
Climate
[edit]Snag has a subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification Dwc/Dfc) with mild summers and severely cold and long winters.
On February 2, 1947, Snag recorded a temperature of -62.2 °C (-80 °F), beating the continental North American record-low temperature that until then, belonged to Fort Good Hope, Northwest Territories, when it reached -61.7 °C (-79.1 °F) on December 31, 1910. The next day, on February 3, 1947, the record was beaten again in Snag; −63.0 °C (−81.4 °F).[1]
That same winter, two previous records had already been surpassed: including the February 2 record, and one on December 15, 1946 noted various phenomena, particularly sound such as voices being heard clearly miles from their source.[citation needed] There was a clear sky (except for some ice fog), and little to no wind. There were 38.1 centimetres (15.0 in) of snow on the ground, but the level had been in decline. Another town 180 km (112 mi) northeast of Snag, Fort Selkirk, claimed an even lower temperature of −65.0 °C (−85.0 °F), but the claim could not be confirmed.[2]
| Climate data for Snag (1941−1970 normals, extremes 1944−1965) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 46 (8) |
45 (7) |
56 (13) |
72 (22) |
86 (30) |
89 (32) |
89 (32) |
87 (31) |
81 (27) |
65 (18) |
45 (7) |
40 (4) |
89 (32) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | −8.9 (−22.7) |
4.8 (−15.1) |
23.4 (−4.8) |
40.7 (4.8) |
56.5 (13.6) |
66.5 (19.2) |
69.3 (20.7) |
65.1 (18.4) |
53.1 (11.7) |
32.2 (0.1) |
6.9 (−13.9) |
−8.3 (−22.4) |
33.4 (0.8) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | −18.7 (−28.2) |
−8.1 (−22.3) |
7.0 (−13.9) |
26.9 (−2.8) |
43.8 (6.6) |
53.5 (11.9) |
57.0 (13.9) |
52.2 (11.2) |
41.3 (5.2) |
22.4 (−5.3) |
−1.9 (−18.8) |
−17.2 (−27.3) |
21.5 (−5.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | −28.4 (−33.6) |
−20.9 (−29.4) |
−9.3 (−22.9) |
13.1 (−10.5) |
31.0 (−0.6) |
40.6 (4.8) |
44.7 (7.1) |
39.2 (4.0) |
29.5 (−1.4) |
12.5 (−10.8) |
−10.7 (−23.7) |
−26.0 (−32.2) |
9.6 (−12.4) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −78 (−61) |
−81.4 (−63.0) |
−60 (−51) |
−51 (−46) |
3 (−16) |
23 (−5) |
29 (−2) |
13 (−11) |
−2 (−19) |
−28 (−33) |
−63 (−53) |
−69 (−56) |
−81.4 (−63.0) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 0.83 (21) |
0.67 (17) |
0.62 (16) |
0.59 (15) |
1.20 (30) |
2.18 (55) |
2.75 (70) |
1.75 (44) |
1.12 (28) |
0.79 (20) |
0.83 (21) |
0.83 (21) |
14.16 (360) |
| Average rainfall inches (cm) | trace | 0.00 (0.00) |
0.01 (0.03) |
0.09 (0.23) |
0.95 (2.4) |
2.15 (5.5) |
2.75 (7.0) |
1.74 (4.4) |
0.90 (2.3) |
0.08 (0.20) |
0.01 (0.03) |
trace | 8.68 (22.0) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 8.3 (21) |
6.9 (18) |
6.2 (16) |
5.0 (13) |
2.6 (6.6) |
0.2 (0.51) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.1 (0.25) |
2.2 (5.6) |
7.1 (18) |
8.3 (21) |
8.4 (21) |
55.3 (140) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 15 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 118 |
| Average rainy days (≥ 0.01 in) | trace | 0 | trace | trace | 7 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 7 | 1 | trace | 0 | 53 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 10 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 2 | trace | 0 | trace | 2 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 66 |
| Source: ECCC[3][4] | |||||||||||||
Disappearance of aircraft
[edit]On January 26, 1950, a Douglas C-54 Skymaster (tail number 42-72469) of the United States Air Force, with 34 service personnel, 2 civilians and a crew of 8, disappeared on a flight from Alaska to Montana. It was in the vicinity of Snag when last contact was made by radio at 17:09.[5] No wreckage or remains have ever been located.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ "WMO Region 4 (North America): Lowest Temperature". Arizona State University. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
- ^ Heidorn, Keith C. "Weather Almanac for February 2002". The Weather Doctor. Archived from the original on October 31, 2019.
- ^ "Canadian Climate Normals 1941–1970 Volume 1: Temperature" (PDF). Environment Canada. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 9, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
- ^ "Canadian Climate Normals 1941–1970 Volume 2: Precipitation" (PDF). Environment Canada. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 9, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
- ^ Kennebec, Matt (2010). "Douglas DC-4 C-54D". Archived from the original on September 26, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
- ^ "Douglas C-54D-1-DC 42-72469 Snag, YT". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
