Climate Watch
By Rick Thoman Alaska Climate Specialist Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy International Arctic Research Center/University of Alaska Fairbanks
The 50th Iditarod Sled Dog Race is underway with teams headed toward Nome. Who could have imagined in 1973 that this event that brings Nome into the spotlight every spring would become what it is today.
Over the years the weather has thrown big challenges at mushers and their teams. In 1981, driving rain and warm temperatures between Anvik and Unalakleet caused ice bridges to fail, marooning some teams for a day or two. The following year brought rain to the area between Nulato and Kaltag as teams were passing through.
Deep snow or no snow have also been a challenge over the years. Three times —2003, 2015 and 2017— the restart has been moved to Fairbanks due to a lack of snow in Alaska Range or Southcentral.
The most consistent challenge weatherwise is of course on the Bering Sea coast. Blizzards have stymied teams since the early days. In 1992, Bob Hickel, son of then-Alaska governor Wally Hickel, and three other mushers were pinned down on the Solomon flats for a day before being able to limp into Safety.
In 2014, Jeff King left White Mountain apparently cruising to his fifth victory, only to be blown off the trail in a severe ground storm in the Topkok Blowhole. He had to call for emergency help and was thus disqualified. Conditions were so poor east of Nome that year, when winner Dallas Seavey crossed the finish line, he thought he was in third place, having unknowingly passed the stranded Jeff King and Aliy Zirkle in the storm.
And of course, it was just three years ago that the lack of stable shorefast sea ice forced rerouting of parts of the race trail and we saw the now iconic but at the time shocking spectacle of teams coming into Nome with open water just beyond the beach.
The winning teams have seen a whole variety of weather. The coldest finish was in 1977, when Rick Swenson notched his first win at 1:30 a.m. it was -19°F. It was also 19°F in 1995 when Doug Swingley won, but that was at just afternoon and the sun was shining.
Perhaps the stormiest finish was in 1998, when Jeff King came up Front Street in the midst of a snowstorm with northeast winds blowing at almost 20 mph. But at least it was mild, with temperatures near freezing.
One of the most picturesque wins was in 1983, when Rick Mackey’s late evening finish took place under clear skies, brisk northeast winds and a bright aurora.
Sometimes weather has taken a back seat to finish line excitement. The 7:30 a.m. sprint up Front Street in 1978, when Dick Mackey edged out Rick Swenson for the win by one second took place under morning sunshine and a comfortable 10°F. And weather also decided the landmark win of the first woman to win the Iditarod. In 1985, hometown favorite Libby Riddles pulled in midmorning under partly sunny skies and a 6 mph breeze, a far cry from the Shaktoolik to Koyuk blizzard that her Teller-trained team pushed through to leave the competition behind.