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Kids are kids everywhere, but in our Northern State, kids experience very different weather and light conditions. A common notion about Alaska is that the whole state goes dark in the winter and has unending sunlight in the summer. That's not quite the case.
The farther north you are, the less likely you’ll see a “traditional” daylight/nighttime day. In the town of Barrow, at the very top of the state, there is a two-month winter period in which the sun doesn't rise. In the summer, they have continuous daylight for 85 days.
But that's the extreme. As you move south, you’ll generally have both night and day―every day, even if it's quite brief. Long dawns and dusks can make the day appear longer than it actually is.
Here’s an example: Anchorage
June: Sunrise at 4:21 a.m., Sunset at 11:42 p.m. Hours of daylight: 19:21
December: Sunrise at 10:14 a.m., Sunset at 3:42 p.m. House of daylight: 5:28
 Because Alaska is so large, weather varies greatly between the northern and southern part of the state. In the “summer” (May-Sept), weather ranges from 24° to 72° (Fahrenheit) for a high. In the winter, temperatures can drop 40 to 50°.
Weather Records
- Record high temperature: 1915 +100°
- Record low temperature: Tanana -78°
- High tides of 37 feet
- Snow: 62 inches in 24 hours; 974 inches in 1 year (Thompson Alaska, near Valdez)
Not only is Alaska a big state, but it also contains glaciers, mountains, volcanoes, thousands of miles of coastline and more!
Here are a few fascinating facts:
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 It is the biggest state in the Union.
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At 586,400 square miles (365 million acres) it has the equivalent of one-fifth of the landmass of the combined lower 48 states. (Yes, it's bigger than Texas―twice as big, in fact―and it would take three California’s, 12 New York’s, or 470 Rhode Islands to equal it in size!)
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It is home to North America's tallest peak, Mount McKinley (known to the locals as Denali) whose 20,320-foot crown dominates the Alaska Range.
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Barrow, on the Arctic Ocean, is the northern-most community in the U.S.
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Even its disasters lead the pack: the Good Friday earthquake near Anchorage in 1964 measured 9.2 on the Richter scale, the highest ever recorded in the nation.
In addition, Alaska has:
- 3 million lakes
- 29 volcanoes
- 33,000 miles of coastline
- 1400 miles North to South
- 2,700 miles East to West
- Over 1/2 the world's glaciers
- 55 miles east of Russia
- Alaska is the only state to have coastlines on three different seas: Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea.
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 Alaska is so big that kids who live in different parts of the state have totally different weather, and some may have 24 hours of sunlight!
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Some kids in Alaska go to school in a school like you do, in a city or town like the one you live in. Others are home schooled, or go to a small school with only one or two teachers. Some might even go to school on floating timber at logging camp!
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Kids in Alaska might go to bed with a light show display of the Northern Lights playing through their windows during spring or fall, and wake up to see a thousand-pound moose passing through their yards.
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Kids in Alaska might be descendants of people who crossed the Bering Strait thousands of years ago, such as the Aleuts, Eskimos or Indians; or they may have descended from Europeans or Russians who came later. Other kids in Alaska might be the great-grandchildren of American settlers who came in the 1800s looking for gold. Still others might have moved from the “lower 48” because their parents are working on a military base or with the Alaskan pipeline.
Project: Talk to your teacher or parents about finding a Pen Pal your own age in Alaska. Compare notes on favorite music, television shows, clothes and more. You’ll probably be surprised at how much alike you both are!
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Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867 for under 2 cents an acre.
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State Flower: Forget-me-not. The plant grows well in most of Alaska's varied climate.
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State Bird: Alaska Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus alascensis Swarth). It can change its color from light brown to snow white. The willow ptarmigan was named Alaska's state bird in 1955.
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State Tree: Sitka spruce (picea sitchenensis). The evergreen is found throughout the southeastern and central areas of Alaska.
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State Marine Mammal: Bowhead whale
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 State Fish: King salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). King salmon weighing up to 100 lb. have been caught in Alaska. The king salmon is also known as the chinook salmon and is a popular sport fish. It became the state fish in 1962.
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 State Sport: Dog Mushing. It once was the primary form of transportation in most of Alaska. Today dog sled racing is a popular winter sport. It was adopted as the state sport in 1972.
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State Gem: Jade. Alaska has a large deposit of jade, including a big mountain filled with dark green jade on the Seward Peninsula.
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State Mineral: Gold. The search for gold played a major role in shaping the history of Alaska, from the discovery of gold in Juneau to the great gold rush at Nome. Gold was named the state mineral in 1968.
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