Winter in Alaska is usually associated with bone chilling cold. This year, however, temperatures have been so warm it has some people wondering if Alaska is melting.
On Sunday, the temperature in Kodiak Island hit a balmy 67 degrees. That's warmer than it was in Southern California that same day, according to CNN.
It's the highest December temperature reading ever recorded in Alaska.
The Kodiak Airport also recorded 65 degrees on Sunday, breaking its monthly record by nine degrees and shattering the previous daily record -- last set on December 26, 1984 -- by 20 degrees.
"It is the warmest temperature on record for anytime between October 5th and April 21st...meaning this would've set monthly records in Nov, Jan, Feb, and Mar as well," the NWS tweeted.
Elsewhere in Alaska, St. Paul tied its highest temperature of 42 degrees on Sunday and a record 62 degrees was reported in Cold Bay, breaking the previous high of 44 set back in 1990.
"It is the warmest temp recorded between Oct. 27 and May 7, so monthly records would've been set in Nov, Jan, Feb, Mar, and Apr," the NWS tweeted.
Alaska also recorded its warmest Christmas Day ever -- 56 degrees in Unalaksa, breaking the previous record of 55 set back in 2009 in Metlakatla. The town actually had at least eight days in December that were above 50 degrees.
"We can probably say it's the warmest [Christmas] in at least a century, and realistically, more like 110, maybe 120 years," Rick Thoman, of the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy, told KUCB News.
In addition to temperature records, Alaska is also seeing an abnormal amount of precipitation for this time of year with records being broken across the state.
While the figures may be startling, Thoman said it's all a result of climate change.
"This is exactly what we expect in a warming world," he told Reuters.
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