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Alaska Heat Wave is Among Hottest in State History; Anchorage Hits 80 Degrees

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Alaska is being hit with a record heat wave this weekend and temperatures are expected to reach the 80s, reported the Associated Press.

Anchorage is reporting 80-degree weather while some other areas of the state could be experiencing much hotter temperatures. Up until a month ago, it was still snowing in the state's capital and residents, used to 60-degree highs this time of year, are scrambling to beat the heat.

Most homes do not have air conditioning, so many people are reportedly hosing down their pets, swimming in local lakes and clearing fans out of hardware stores, but some are just enjoying the sun.

"I love it, I love it," Jordan Rollison, 18, said. "I've never seen a summer like this, ever."

State health officials had to remind residents about the importance of sunscreen and did so with a Facebook message. Some residents are not too thrilled about the heat.

"It's almost unbearable to me," said Lorraine Roehl, who has lived in Anchorage for two years after moving here from the community of Sand Point in Alaska's Aleutian Islands."I don't like being hot. I'm used to cool ocean breeze."

One unofficial thermometer reading at a lodge near Talkeetna showed 98 degrees, which would be the undisputed all-time record for Alaska. However, Tuesday's high of 81 degrees is the warmest in Anchorage since the city was 80 degrees in 1926.

"This is the hottest heat wave in Alaska since '69," Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the online forecasting service Weather Underground, said. "You're way, way from normal."

The heat wave has been sustained for some time now. For nearly two weeks, the city has experienced 70-degree weather. However, Tuesday marked exactly one month since the city's last snowfall.

"Within a month you have that big of a change, it definitely seems very, very hot," Eddie Zingone, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, who has lived in Anchorage for 17 years, said. "It was a very quick warm-up."

Weather forecasters have predicted that the high-pressure system has shifted and a cooling trend will begin on Wednesday.

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