Snag, Yukon

Snag
Location east of Beaver Creek, Yukon.
Country	Canada
Territory	Yukon
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
Area code	867

Snag is a village located on a small, dry-weather sideroad off the Alaska Highway 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of Beaver Creek, Yukon, Canada. The village of Snag is located in a bowl-shaped valley of the White River and its tributaries, including Snag Creek. It was first settled during the Klondike Gold Rush. An aboriginal village was also located about 8 kilometres (5 mi) away. It was the site of a military airfield, established as part of the Northwest Staging Route, which closed in 1968. In 1947, the village of Snag boasted a population of 8 to 10 natives and fur traders. An additional staff of 15-20 airport personnel — meteorologists, radio operators, aircraft maintenance men — lived at the airport barracks.

The Record

On February 3, 1947, the record-low temperature for continental North America was recorded in Snag: −63 °C (−81 °F). That same winter, two previous records had already been set: one on December 13 in Mayo, Yukon and another at Snag the day before. Staff at the station made note of various phenomena, particularly sound such as voices being heard clearly miles from their source. There was a clear sky (except for some ice fog), and little wind. There were 38.1 centimetres (15.0 in) of snow on the ground, but was fast decreasing. Another town 180 km (112 mi) northeast of Snag, Fort Selkirk, claimed an even lower temperature of −65 °C (−85 °F), but this could not be confirmed.

External links

• An account of the historic low temperature