Tundra

Channel 5 news! And here is Vinny with the weather….

Lena, Russia Its Winter in Lena and that means snow and ice. Right now the temp. is about 23 degrees F. That is the high also! At night it will get to about 5 degrees. Lena is located in northern Russia so that means it is in the Tundra. The Average rainfall in Lena is scare because most of the precipitation is snow. The permafrost is also just starting.

Nome, Alaska Nome Alaska is getting hit right now with some heavy snow. 3 feet to be exact! The temp. is about 16 F and will get down to 3 F. The Average rainfall is about 15 inches and they get about 9 feet of snow every year. Permafrost is also on its way! Nome probably wishes that it is summer because in summer it can get up to about 60 F.

Vince, can you tell us some reasons that the Tundra’s freezing cold weather is a good thing?

For Once the Cold is Needed! The Tundra is home to numerous testing grounds. Every year 100’s of trucks drive up to the Tundra to see how the trucks engines react to the harsh cold. (Without the Tundra we would have a hard time producing vehicles. (ex. Ice road Truckers) Many weather testing grounds are in the Tundra. The scientists test weather equipment up in Tundra to see how the equipment reacts with the freezing cold. There are also many fish companies in the Tundra. The cold is needed to package fish so they don’t spoil.

Lets go to Katelin.