Deadhorse, Alaska
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Deadhorse is a seasonal settlement located on the North Slope of the U.S. state of Alaska near the Arctic Ocean. The town consists mainly of facilities for the workers and companies that operate at the nearby Prudhoe Bay oil fields. Deadhorse is accessible via the Dalton Highway from Fairbanks, or the Deadhorse Airport. Limited accommodations are also available for tourists.
Companies with facilities in Deadhorse service Prudhoe Bay and other nearby oil fields, as well as the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) which brings oil from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez in south-central Alaska. Facilities in Deadhorse are built entirely on man-made gravel pads and usually consist of pre-fab trailers brought up on barge or via air cargo.
Tourists traveling to Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay typically take tour buses from Fairbanks via the Dalton Highway, a two-day journey with an overnight stop in Coldfoot. During the summer months, visitors can access the Arctic Ocean during its summer thaw, as well as experience the midnight sun due to Deadhorse's location inside the Arctic Circle. (In winter, the opposite phenomenon of polar night can be experienced as well.)
[edit] Weather superlatives
- Longest day: 63 days, 23 hours, 40 min
- Shortest day: 45 min
- Official sunrise: 11:42 a.m. - November 24
- Official sunset: 12:27 p.m. - November 24
- Longest night: 54 days, 22 hours, 51 min
- Official sunset: 12:27 p.m. - November 24
- Official sunrise: 11:18 a.m. - January 18
- Shortest night: 26 min
- Highest recorded temperature: 83 °F (28 °C) on 21 June 1991
- Lowest recorded temperature: -62 °F (-52 °C) on 27 January 1989
- Highest wind speed recorded: 95 knots (109 mph, 176 km/h) on 25 February 1989
- Official lowest wind chill factor: 28 January 1989 - Temperature of -54 °F and wind speed of 31 knots (36 mph) gave a wind chill of -135 °F using the old formula, or -102 °F using the current formula.
