Fairbanks has season’s first temperatures below freezing

FAIRBANKS — Fairbanks International Airport has reported freezing temperatures for the first time since spring.

The last time the airport registered 32 degrees was May 7, the Fairbanks office of Alaska Weather Service said.

The airport reported the below freezing temperature on Sunday, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported (http://bit.ly/2wEi2Oe) on Monday.

To prepare for cold fall and winter temperatures, Fairbanks gardeners are starting to harvest their summer vegetables.

Suzy Fiera picked beans and squash Sunday morning from her plot at the Fairbanks Community Garden. The New York native said this year was her first summer gardening in Alaska.

“We have brassicas here,” Fiera said, touring her small garden plot. “We have kale and cabbages still in the ground over here. I’m also growing celery, flowers, squash, beets, potatoes.”

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Fiera also grew a giant Alaskan cabbage this summer that weighed 16 pounds (7 kilograms). Fiera said it won a blue ribbon at the Tanana Valley State Fair.

Signs of frost damage could be seen on Fiera’s potato, squash and bean plants, which were beginning to turn brown along their leaves and stems.

The National Weather Service forecast said temperatures are expected to stay above freezing at night for the remainder of the week, but that lower lying areas in the Tanana Valley should prepare for continued frost.

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