Friday morning’s low temperature forecast from the American GFS model. (WeatherBell.com) 2019 is likely to go down in the books as the warmest year on record in Alaska. Anchorage hit 90 degrees for the first time on record. The city also measured its highest humidity. Arctic permafrost and sea ice are melting at alarming rates. The North Slope’s landscape is changing before inhabitants’ eyes. But to round out 2019, the weather will take an auspiciously timed abrupt turn — switching gears from record highs to extreme cold. The frigid blast may linger for seven to 10 days before easing by the first weekend of the new year. The cold en route European model forecast for Beetles, Alaska. (WeatherBell.com) Fairbanks, Alaska, hasn’t climbed above zero since noontime last Wednesday. Having dropped to minus-30 Sunday night, the city is solidly in “bone chilling” category. Its average December low is minus-13 degrees. […]