A cold snap kept an icy grip on Interior and Southcentral Alaska Thursday, although some areas reported slightly higher temperatures than the day before.
In many Interior areas, cloud cover helped with a little warming, said Scott Berg, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Fairbanks office.
On Wednesday, the lowest Interior Alaska temperature recorded by the National Weather Service was 59 below on the Salcha River.
On Thursday, the same spot along the Salcha dipped only to 47 below, Berg said.
"The temperature actually warmed up about 10 degrees, just with a thin little layer of clouds above us," Berg said.
At the Fairbanks International Airport, a low of 42 below was recorded at 4:30 p.m. Eielson Air Force Base dipped to 40 below, and Fort Wainwright hit 44 below Thursday afternoon. Each location was a full 10 degrees higher than Wednesday's recorded lows.
The coldest Interior communities were to the north and west of Fairbanks, which didn't get any of that cloud cover, Berg said. Both Tanana and Bettles clocked in at 53 below on Thursday afternoon.
[For first time in five years, Fairbanks gets a real taste of winter]
On the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, a blizzard warning was in effect through 6 a.m. Friday, due to blowing snow and wind chill of 25 to 35 below.
Meanwhile in Southcentral, Talkeetna outdid its Wednesday low with 38 below recorded Thursday morning, said Rebecca Duell, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Anchorage office.
Wasilla's low recorded temperature was 33 below, and Palmer hit 20 below Thursday morning, Duell said. Kenai, recorded 29 below early Thursday.
Duell noted that these are only the official temperatures — all taken at local airports — and there's a lot of temperature variation within communities depending on specific locations.
"Definitely a lot of places got colder than those," Duell said.
It’s so cold in Alaska that even Alaskans are complaining @NWSFairbanks @NWSAnchorage @Climatologist49 https://t.co/VopHcwaBtI pic.twitter.com/j8DrHCuvRE
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Anchorage's Ted Stevens International Airport recorded a low of 15 below Thursday morning, holding steady from Wednesday.
Anchorage's record low temperature for Jan. 18 is 19 below, set in 1989, Duell said, so Wednesday's weather was just a few degrees shy of a daily record low.
Starting Friday, warmer weather is forecast to start creeping back in, the National Weather Service says.
In the Interior, light snow forecast for Friday will usher in temperatures at least 20 degrees higher than today, Berg said. Temperatures are expected to climb further next week, with a high temperature of 8 degrees forecast Wednesday for Fairbanks.
In Southcentral, temperatures are also expected to gradually rise.
17 of 18 days in 2017 in #Anchorage had below normal temps. How far into 2016 would you have to go to count 17 below normal days? Oct. 24th.
— NWS Anchorage (@NWSAnchorage) January 19, 2017
"When I saw 'warm up,' it's relative," Duell said. "We're looking at temperatures quite balmy to what we're used to."
Friday's temperatures in Anchorage are forecast for between 5 and 12 degrees, Duell said. Highs of 5 to 15 degrees are forecast over the weekend.
Next week in Southcentral, temperatures are expected to climb into the upper 20s.