Snag, Yukon

Snag
Location east of Beaver Creek, Yukon
Coordinates: 62°23′00″N 140°22′00″W / 62.383333°N 140.366667°W / 62.383333; -140.366667
Country	Canada
Territory	Yukon
Population (2006)
• Total	0 (closed)
Time zone	Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
• Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)
Area code(s)	867

Snag is a village located on a small, dry-weather sideroad off the Alaska Highway, 25 kilometres (16 mi) east 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 approximately 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 eight to ten First Nation people and fur traders. An additional staff of fifteen to twenty airport personnel — meteorologists, radio operators, aircraft maintenance men — lived at the airport barracks.

Record temperature

On February 3, 1947, the record-low temperature for continental North America was recorded in Snag: −63.0 °C (−81.4 °F).^[1] That same winter, two previous records had already been set: one in December noted 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 mild to little wind. There were 38.1 centimetres (15.0 in) of snow on the ground, but it was decreasing. Another town 180 km (112 mi) northeast of Snag, Fort Selkirk, claimed an even lower temperature of −65 °C (−85 °F), but the claim could not be confirmed.^[2]

Disappearance of aircraft

On 26 January 1950, a Douglas C-54 Skymaster (tail number 42-72469) of the United States Air Force, with 36 passengers (34 service personnel and two civilians) and a crew of eight on board, disappeared on a flight from Alaska to Montana; no wreckage or remains have ever been located.^[3][4]

The aircraft was in the vicinity of Snag when the last contact was made by radio at 17:09.^[4]

References

1. ↑ "WMO Region 4 (North America): Lowest Temperature". Arizona State University. Retrieved April 9, 2015. 
2. ↑ An account of the historic low temperature
3. ↑ "Douglas C-54D-1-DC 42-72469 Snag, YT". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 2011-06-19. 
4. 1 2 Kennebec, Matt (2010). "Douglas DC-4 C-54D". Retrieved 2011-06-19. 

Coordinates: 62°23′N 140°22′W / 62.383°N 140.367°W / 62.383; -140.367