The Nation - News from Feb. 1, 1989

Alaska’s 2 1/2-week-old cold wave showed no signs of relenting as the barometric pressure rose to 31.84 inches in the afternoon at Northway in eastern Alaska--the highest pressure ever recorded in North America, said National Weather Service meteorologist Tim Craig. Previously, the highest barometric pressure on record was 31.53 inches on Jan. 1, 1974, in Canada’s Yukon Territory. The Alaska Department of Transportation reported the day’s coldest reading--72 below at Tok, an Alaska Highway town near Canada, Fairbanks forecaster John Lingaas said. Thirty-seven soldiers suffered frostbite in winter exercises. The record cold air swept into the lower 48 states, dropping temperatures in Montana by more than 70 degrees in less than a day.