CARIBOU, Maine — The most northeast city in the country has been getting some recognition recently for its annual bouts with Mother Nature’s brutality; Caribou was pitted against Fairbanks, Alaska to find out who would advance from the Final Four in The Weather Channel’s contest to determine the Toughest Weather City.
The last votes in Caribou vs. Fairbanks were submitted this morning at 4, and more information about the contest can be found by visiting http://www.weather.com/sports-rec/march-madness/toughest-weather-city-final4.
Fairbanks has a deep bench of weather woes to draw from in the competition, including experiencing 114 days of sub-zero cold, 65 inches of snow and temperatures above 90 degrees once every two years.
Roughly 4,000 miles away, Caribou (home of the Vikings) has its own staggering weather statistics, touting trivia like 110 inches of snow, a last freeze date of May 15 and 41 days of sub-zero cold.
At the New Sweden School, eighth-grade student Kristyn Maley could be one of the most qualified individuals to chime in on the possible outcome of the matchup. She’s lived in New Sweden for about two years now, and prior to coming to The County she lived in Valdez, Alaska — which is about 300 miles north of Fairbanks.
Doing a worst-weather comparison between Valdez and Caribou was pretty hard, Maley explained. She says Caribou is colder, because the ocean keeps Valdez a little warmer — but Maley said that her former town received over 300 inches of snow last year.
“It would probably have to be a tie, because they both have strong winds, and they’re both cold,” she explained, favoring Caribou as the winner because of the extreme cold.
“But if we’re talking about Fairbanks, then it would be Fairbanks because they’re one of the coldest cities in Alaska,” said the 13-year-old, who turned 14 just about an hour after being interviewed. “At 1:13 this afternoon,” she said precisely.
If anyone’s interested in experiencing Fairbanks weather, Maley says there’s a skiing/snowboarding resort near Fairbanks that’s really cool.
“It’s really nice — cold, but nice,” she said.
The winner of the Caribou vs. Fairbanks matchup will compete against the winner of the Fargo, N.D. vs. Lubbock, Texas bracket; voting for that competition begins today. The Championship matchup will be hosted on Thursday, April 4 and the overall winner will be revealed on Friday, April 5.
