Alaska anyone?

Okay, so I know Renee and Amanda are from Alaska so if you guys know the answer to any of these questions that would be sooo helpful! Alright, so in my WIP the characters go to Alaska (long story) but they're in a airport. So, what do Alaska airports look like? Like a main one. Are they all small, or is their a main one that looks just like any airport around the country? It's summer time in the story, about May/June- maybe July, I haven't really decided since I really only say it's summer (dates not super important) so what does it look like out there during those times? Like, whats the weather like at those times? Is a certain type of car common in Alaska, or do you all just have any type of car? Would they get around by car or would they fly in a small airplane to other airports? (I've been watching a lot of shows about Alaska, but I want to make sure that what I'm seeing is potraying the norms out there and not just the excited stuff). I just realized I'm making it sound like a foreign country lol, sorry. I'm going to do some research online too, but I want it to be accurate to make it all sound more real Anyones help is welcome, even if you just visited Alaska or wrote a paper about it or something, I'd like to know a bit about it so I can write about it the rigth way. Thanks in advanced

Long post coming up:

I must say, I haven't much experience with travel within Alaska, but I can give you what I know. (FYI, Juneau may be the political capital, but Anchorage is the real capital. If that makes sense.)

The airport (the Anchorage one, anyway) is your standard airport. They have your Starbucks and security and restaurants. The other ones (that I've seen) are pretty small, though, and probably only have a gift shop--it really depends where your characters are visiting.

The usual transportation for places not far from Anchorage, like Wasilla, the Kenai, Seward, and Whittier, is driving, though it takes a couple hours. Places further than that…well, I've flown to Dillingham before--the plane wasn't super small, though--probably 25+ people. I have a friend who drives to Whitehorse occasionally, so it really depends on where they're going and the people.

Lol, May/June/July is much too broad. You can have anything from a foot of snow to seventy-degree sunshine…or rain. Most likely lots of clouds. Lightening and high winds are unusual, but not unheard of at that time. The snow is completely gone from the mountains near the end of July, if that helps any.

The major trees are spruce and silver birch, and the air generally (compared to California and Florida summer air) smells crisp and fresh. You can see the mountains from anywhere--they kind of encircle Anchorage--and you can see the bay from the slightly higher places. Moose are common--I probably see one a month, a lot of times a mother with a calf or two. I have seen bears, but they don't really enter the city. You would have a chance of seeing foxes and rabbits as well, though I've only seen two foxes. Squirrels, ravens, magpies, and chickadees are as common as dirt.

For cars, they could drive anything in Anchorage for the summer--it's probably the same all over. You would see a lot of Subarus, though I have a tiny Hyundai Accent (2-wheel drive) so nothing is standard. Mini-SUVs are also very popular.

If it needs to be clarified, we have…four malls, Amanda? At least four. They're about half to a quarter the size of the spread you'd see in California/Florida.

Well, I suppose you mostly asked about the airport…I hope that solves future problems for you! Let me know if you need any more information.

And also! Unless you're going over the Arctic Circle, there isn't 24-hour light or anything during the summer. In Anchorage, the day does get pretty long, but the sun usually sets around two or three on the lightest day, which is in late May/early July(the solstice). And Renee's exaggerating a bit on the snow--you'd only have a foot of snow in May on the mountains. Down where most people live, you might have a couple inches still melting, but that would only be for a winter with heavy snowfall. ...Any more questions?

Thank you guys sooo much, this is all so helpful! For the weather thing, I guess I'll decide on early to mid June, so if you could describe the weather for that. Like is it still snowing? And around what time does the sun set during that month? And what months is your summer in? Again, thank you, I really appreciate it!

Sarah wrote:Thank you guys sooo much, this is all so helpful! For the weather thing, I guess I'll decide on early to mid June, so if you could describe the weather for that. Like is it still snowing? And around what time does the sun set during that month? And what months is your summer in? Again, thank you, I really appreciate it!

Haha, mid June? Definitely not snowing. That's usually the warmest time, mid to late May through June. Sometimes we get a nice, sunny July, but that's usually when the rain sets in. It would be our hottest month, otherwise.

I think our absolute maximum temperature was like 80˚F, and that's extremely rare. Summer usually goes between 55˚F and 75˚F. June would be near the solstice, so the sun would set really late, like after midnight, and rise at three or four in the morning. But when I say set, I'm not talking about full dark, especially not on the solstice. It's like several nights that are just dusk the whole time. Summer starts mid May, usually, and ends mid August, usually, though it's sometimes gone into the beginning of September. Hope that helps!

Wow, it sounds really cold out there (well, being Alaska I assumed it was cold, but not that cold, like for summer and all lol) This is exactly what I needed to know, thank you soo much!!!

Lol, it's warm for us! You definitely learn to layer in Alaska.

I bet! 55 degrees is warm for me in the winter, I can't imagine that being what I call warm for the summer!

Yeah, 55˚F is warm for autumn and spring, but not summer--65˚F and up are warm for summer, and anything over 70˚F is hot for a lot of us. That's shorts and t-shirt weather.

It's official, I'm going to vacation in alaska during the summer to get the cool weather but I am never going to live there! Lol, I need warm weather (well, unless I become a really famous author and have to write a lot because I can only write when the weather is cold, so for that Alaska would be ideal)