EvKa

Hello, I am a long time reader, first time poster!

I was just wondering if anyone lives in Anchorage? My husband and I could possibly be moving there in the near future and I am eager to know anyones' experiences!

How is the weather? I have heard that it can be dark there for hours on end - or maybe that is a different part of Alaska...? What are the Summer/Winters like? Temperatures? OK, I think that's about it for now. Thank you!

Michael

Check here.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/anchorage/

EvKa

Great! Thank you for that

AdobePinon

If you have to ask, it's probably not for you.

Steerpike

It's not as cold as some of the US in winter - eg, the mid-west - Minneapolis, for example. Eg - average low, Anchorage, January: 9 F; Minneapolis, January: 4F; Fargo, North Dakota: -2 F

However, it does get less daylight in winter, due to it's higher latitude (almost 24 hour darkness in December). But in the summer you get almost 24 hours of daylight. I used to go there a lot on business and it's not a bad place; had some great gourmet meals at some wonderful restaurants! It is VERY outdoors oriented ... lots of people have private planes and fly off to go fishing or hunting or whatever. The people are truly fantastic, also - it's a frontier spirit unlike anywhere else.

I would think carefully about moving there, though - the combination of long dark winters and long summer evenings can be strange; and the place is pretty isolated ... several hours flight just to get to Seattle. But for the right person - it's one of the last frontiers available.

ugacrew

I'm thinking her husband is in the USAF and they won't have a choice since the decision will be made for them. No one moves up there unless they've been there before and liked it, have a massive job opportunity, or being moved there by the military. Just a guess.

EvKa

Good guess! Yes, my husband could be joining the National Guard and this is where we will end up. He is over there at the moment, meeting the people he needs to and just hanging out and exploring the area. He said it is beautiful and he loves the temp. over there.

Right now, we are living in Tucson, AZ, so you can imagine the difference! That is why I asked about the temps., I guess, because we have lived in Tucson for 5 years and although it is insanely hot during the summers, I do like the sunshine. However, I am originally from England and am also used to a cloudy, dark, cold climate .... I also liked the winters in England and when it starts to get dark early. I am trying to make a pros v cons list at the mo'...and right now the pros are outweighing the cons....


Thank you all for the info...it is much appreciated Obviously this is going to be a huge change for both of us (as if moving myself from the UK to the USA wasn't big enough! ) so I am trying to learn as much as I can.

Steerpike

Try this page - weather comparison between tucson and anchorage.

You will be in for a change, that's for sure! The only surprise is that it rains less in Anchorage in July!

But compared to, say, Manchester, much less rain (but much colder, too!).

PS I presume you know there is no state tax, and that there is an actual payment made by the govt. to residents (sort of a negative tax) based on oil revenue (not sure of the details though). Things are much more expensive, though, because of the difficulty in getting stuff there.

Same data, prettier graph

Elvira

Never been but imagine it would be a bit like The Shipping News

Jan Alaska

We are moving there in 3 weeks time (that is leave here in 3 weeks time, arrive Wasilla 3 weeks after that) will let you know what its like when we arrive.
Seriously though, city data has some good info on all areas, the folks on the Alaska forum are friendly and will help with most sensible questions.

For us the temps arent going to be much different except summer wont be as hot (thankfully), winter daylight hours around the Anchorage area are about 7 hours daylight at mid winter while mid summer see's 21 hours of daylight.

Jan

Folinskyinla

Hi:

It pays to note that "daylight" is a tricky thing to define. The further north you get, the longer the "dusk" and "dawn" tend to be. In contrast, in the tropics, those in-between periods can get quite short.

I was in Anchorage on July 7th, and there was officially 18 hours 43 minutes from sunrise to sunset. However, it seemed to me that most of the five hours in between sunset and sunrise was mostly dusk followed shortly by dawn. I understand that in the winter the day is mostly dawn and dusk. But I've never been there in winter. My northernmost experience was Scotland in January and it seemed that way.

DDL

I lived on Adak out in the Aleutians for almost 3 years. We would take R&R trips to Anchorage twice a year. My youngest daughter still lives in Alaska, but she's up in Fairbanks.

I like Anchorage. Very outdoors-oriented for sure. Lots of snowboarding, skiing. Shopping's not bad. Some nice hotels. GORGEOUS in the summer - so much sunlight, never saw flowers and plants so big! The Iditarod is way cool as well IMHO. If you will have military privileges the Army post (Ft. Richardson) and AFB (Elmendorf) have everything you'll need.

Alaska is just beautiful. My daughter says the Northern Lights actually "sizzle"/"crackle" they are full of so much energy. They won't be quite that spectacular in Anchorage, but you will see them dancing around periodically.

Best wishes on the move.

Jan Alaska

We've made a couple of recce trips up to Anchorage / Wasilla / Palmer and also Kenai areas while we were there in May it was still lightish at 1am, I'll be investing in some blackout curtains for the summer months for sure.

We're driving across to Seattle then taking the Alaska marine highway to Juneau then on to Whittier, it'll take us 18 days total and i cant wait !!

Janine

zarya

Alaska is probably very a like Norway. My guess you will be fine, it's probably beautiful!

another bloody yank

Yes, I'm sure it's just like Norway.