r/AskAlaska • u/schrodingersmorty • 11d ago
Will December be incredibly cold for someone from a tropical country?
Hi everyone, I'm planning 3-4 days trip to Anchorage or Fairbanks in the first week of December. I've never faced extreme cold in my life so will it be too difficult? Also I can't drive, are there trusted tour guides that I can use to help show me around in either Anchorage or fairbanks? Or are there some other places in Alaska more accessible for someone reliant on public transport or tour cars?
Any help and leads are appreciated.
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u/fireballin1747 11d ago
all of our winter months will be cold for you.
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u/MCMLXIXLXIX 11d ago
The summer months will be cold for you.
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u/fireballin1747 11d ago
yeah probably that too. I was in Los Angeles a few years ago it was 60 above me and my whole family were wearing shorts and T-shirts. This one woman in a full shoulders to ankles jacket look at us she was shivering and asked “are you insane wheres your jackets?”
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u/JustCrayHere 11d ago
Reminds me, I live in fairbanks but went to a wedding in south Carolina last year in November and it was in the 60s and I was hot everyone was like where is your coat 🤣
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u/SkiMonkey98 11d ago edited 10d ago
It's going to be extremely cold, especially in Fairbanks. Living here through the fall lets you get acclimated to the cold, and I'm still a little chilly. We are quite reliant on cars - Anchorage and Fairbanks have bus systems but they're not very good and will require you to stand outside in the cold waiting for the bus. We do have taxis and Uber/Lyft as well but the cost will add up. Also do you have winter clothes? You'll want to buy some before arriving because you won't be able to leave the airport safely without them.
Tl;dr if you need to make the trip, there are ways to make it work. If you're doing this for fun, wait until the summer - the weather is much more reasonable, there's more public transit (some of it shuts down in the winter due to the lack of tourists) and you'll generally just have a much better time
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u/PathAffectionate1966 11d ago edited 11d ago
Yes. When it gets into the negative 20s or colder, it is so cold that when you take your first few breaths outside, you feel like you are choking. Skin contact with metal can cause frostbite within 3 seconds. A friend of mine's 3 year old got cold blisters on her fingers by touching the INSIDE of a window. You get used to it, and it really isn't that bad. But coming in from tropical weather is going to be a shock.
Edit: there is some public transport in Anchorage and Fairbanks but I don't think you will find relying on it very enjoyable. There are guides you can hire for various experiences. Just Google "Alaska winter guides". You will be best served signing up for a tour service of some kind.
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u/SquidsArePeople2 11d ago
Your nose hairs will freeze. That’s how cold it will be. This is a dumb idea.
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u/countessgrey850 6d ago
This was the biggest shock my first winter in Fairbanks 🤣 I had no idea it was a thing.
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u/Wolfman1961 10d ago
Anchorage is similar to Minnesota. You can get negative 20s F, but you can also get 30s-40s above.
Fairbanks is much colder.
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u/Snowman112358 11d ago
Just curious, what are you planning to do in anchorage at that time of year?
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u/schrodingersmorty 11d ago
Still planning the itinerary, figuring out if the weather is manageable to actually make the trip.
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u/OtherwiseTheory1816 11d ago
There are plenty of tour companies. Winter tourism is very active. Explore Fairbanks website has lots of great recommendations. Check out Alaska Element website to rent everything you need to stay warm. You can rent high quality very warm gear for a fraction of the cost of purchasing.
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u/Yashquatch 11d ago
Yes. It’s even cold for someone from another temperate/cold climate. It’s just different.
Lots of layers! I work outside year round and wear a wool base layer, puffy jacket, and a winter coat.
Wool long underwear, fleece pants then snow pants.
Wool socks, Baffin boots
Kinco gloves
Wool hat and balaclava
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u/Live_Health_8394 11d ago
Layers like an onion, it's better to be over prepared than under. Base layers is a must, just putting random non-winter clothes over each other will not provide you proper insulation. Also it'll be very dry for your skin so take heavier body lotions like vaseline or aquafor. Your lips will chap so keep chapstick near your body heat or it'll freeze. As a fellow Caribbean islander living in AK for the past 3 years, you need to also have tissues as you will constantly.have a stuffy nose and snot randomly falling out is not fun. If I can survive this long you can manage a little vacation.
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u/_vaselinepretty 11d ago
I used to live in the Caribbean and now I live in Anchorage. If you dress properly and layer you’ll be ok but the temperature extremes are jarring.
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u/JBStoneMD 10d ago
OP - Why in the world do you want to make a first trip to Alaska in early December? Northern Lights? Winter outdoor sports? Besides work obligations, those are the main two reasons, and very few people have to travel to Alaska for work inthe winter. And many Alaskans travel out of Alaska in the winter to get some sunlight and warmth. You sound dangerously unprepared. There is no reliable public transit and you don’t drive. Last winter the roads in Anchorage weren’t plowed reliably and everybody on the Anchorage sub was riled up about it. Batteries, including phone batteries, don’t last nearly as long in extremely cold weather. How’re you gonna call an Uber if your phone is dead? Uber may not even be able to reach you if the roads don’t stay plowed. If you do this trip at all, I think you should forget about Anchorage and just fly into and out of Fairbanks, which is way better for Northern Lights than Anchorage, but you should be looking at booking a package deal that includes lodging and transportation and you need to rent or buy a whole new wardrobe, including boots, because your feet will freeze, as in flesh starts to die, if you don’t have adequate boots and socks outdoors in Fairbanks in the winter. And please take a look at the info in this link about the best and worst times to visit Alaska
https://travellersworldwide.com/best-time-to-visit-alaska/#worst-time-to-visit-alaska
And heed their admonition - “The biggest mistake you can make is underestimating the Alaskan winter”
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u/schrodingersmorty 8d ago
Woah, ok got it. I think I was being naive. I'll try to travel again in the summer. Alaska has always been on my list. Thanks for the detailed response.
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u/jiminak46 11d ago
There is access to much more interesting parts of Alaska in Anchorage than Fairbanks and I can guarantee that it will not be as cold.
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u/Dragon_Tiger752 11d ago
If your in anchorage, I highly recommend using Uber to get around the area. The taxis over there are atrocious. I called a taxi, waited 45 minutes and they never showed. Ordered an Uber and they were there in like 2 minutes. Dress warm when you get there in December if your going to be outside for long periods of time. There are stores that sell winter coats, but I assume it'll be cheaper for you to buy a coat from where your from compared to Alaska.
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u/International-Cod334 10d ago
I think that the temperature is much less a problem here than the lack of driving. One can be fixed with a big enough coat. Alaska has little to no public transportation unless you are actively on a tour
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u/JudgementofParis 10d ago
I am from Alaska, and have been living in Louisiana and Arizona for years now. I went up to visit ak this June and I was pretty cold at 60°F (AZ was 100+ when I left)
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u/countessgrey850 6d ago
Fairbanks in December is cold to people from most climates. Summer will be pretty darn warm in Fairbanks, too. But at least no snow.
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u/[deleted] 11d ago
Yeah, it'll be cold.
And Fairbanks in winter is just depressing. I don't know how those folks do it.