Longyearbyen: My Northernmost Experience

I visited the Arctic town of Longyearbyen back in August.  Though I've been a blog slacker, I really wanted to write about my visit and some things I learned while in Longyearbyen.  So here's a brain dump!

At 78° North, Longyearbyen is well above the Arctic Circle.  Destined for the land of the midnight sun, Longyearbyen was about a 3hr plane ride due north from Oslo, Norway.  We took off in the dark around 10:30pm and landed in daylight around 2:30am.

Northernmost

As the northernmost city (there are more northern permanent settlements), Longyearbyen is home to the world's northernmost:

• ATM

With the northernmost ATM fees.  
Photo by Jimmy.
• Airport with scheduled public flights (Svalbard Airport, Longyear)

Outside the airport at 3am.
• Bar (Barentz Pub, more on that shortly!)
• Bridge (Wikipedia cites the northernmost bridge as Havøysund Bridge, but there is a small bridge over the Longyearbyen River.  It is much further north, and it totally counts!)

Bridge over the Longyearbyen River.
• Church (Svalbard Church)
• Probably some other things; it's REALLY far north.

Food

There's no shortage of interesting food in the Arctic.  We didn't get to try everything, but here are the places we did check out.

→Huset
After a long day of hiking with a newly injured knee, I walked another mile+ from our Hotel to Huset, and back.  In the rain.  Did I mention the injured knee?  Despite my mood by the time I arrived, Huset was a nice dining experience.  Food choices had a Norwegian flair, including their delicious reindeer stew.

Reindeer stew with lingonberries.

Outside of Huset at 9pm; it finally stopped raining.

→Barentz Pub (northernmost bar in the world!)
How could I visit Longyearbyen and not have a beer at the northernmost bar in the world?!  I chose wisely, and ordered a beer from the northernmost brewery in the world (Macks Bryggeri in Tromsø).

Approaching Barentz Pub and the Radisson.

The beer I had from the northernmost brewery in the world.

Another northernmost beer.

So tired I can't even smile. 

For more information:

• Spitsbergen Travel - Barentz Pub
• Knut Goes To The World's Northernmost Bar

→Kroa
For our second dinner in Longyearbyen, we ate at Kroa.  Kroa is in the center of town, which meant I could finally buy postcards ($$$) and souvenirs ($$$$) - yay!  For dinner the table shared appetizers of smoked minke whale*, which tasted more smokey than like anything else.  The day's dinner special was one no one could resist: Arctic char said to be caught yesterday by our waitress' boss.  Everyone in our group ordered it!

Inside Kroa!

Smoked minke whale.

Fresh-caught Arctic char. 

*Not to rain on Longyearbyen's parade, but I had a minke whale steak in Oslo that was AMAZING.  The smoked whale just didn't let the whale's flavor shine through.

Accommodations

We stayed at Mary-Ann's Polariggen.  The former company housing for coal miners has been converted into a basic but pleasant hotel.  Bathrooms and showers are shared with your hallway, the breakfast is delicious, and the staff is very friendly and helpful.  I was a big fan of the artwork in my room:

Polar bears are messy eaters.
Sweet dreams!

Exterior of Mary-Ann's Polariggen.

Photo by Jimmy.

Miscellaneous 

• Despite what every online article about Longyearbyen says, it is not "against the law" to leave the city limits without a shotgun.  It is, however, a stupid idea to leave the city limits without being prepared, which includes bringing a shotgun for protection.
• If you see something you'd like to buy, buy it!  It will not be cheaper on the mainland!  I should have purchased that thermos I liked so much... 
• The average time most people live in Longyearbyen is 2 years, but there are some people who have made it their permanent home.  Our boat's captain has lived there for about 8 years, and his brother has lived there for nearly 20 years.
• Sewer and water pipes are above ground, and have several sources of heat to keep the pipes from freezing.
• Survival suits may keep you from freezing to death for 45 minutes in the Arctic waters, but they may not keep you dry, even if you're just sitting in a boat, rather than floating in the ocean.  
• If the boat's captain asks if anyone has a back injury, and your back injury over a year ago, still TELL HIM.  Your back WILL hurt after that boat ride, even if you sit in the "least ouchy" seat and brace yourself.
• It was quite rainy during the day.  Locals told us that so much precipitation at that point in the year was very unusual, but the entire summer had been that way.  It would rain/flurry all day, then around 10PM the sun would come out.  Of course, this made it much harder to go to sleep, because we all wanted to explore while the weather was nice. :)
• Take your shoes off when you enter someone's home, hotel, and sometimes restaurant.  It's actually pretty pleasant.  You feel at home right away!
• I need to visit again.  There's so much I still want to do!  Plus, the dark season seems like an interesting time to visit.

More On My Adventures

To read more about the group's adventures in Norway, check out our blog: DU Geography - Norway 2013. There are two articles about Longyearbyen:

• Getting Our Feet Wet - Glacier Hike
• When The (Weather) Odds Are Not in Your Favor... - Arctic Boat Ride

Weather: PA vs CO

I grew up in Pennsylvania. Yay!

Then I moved to Colorado. Yay!

Since I moved west, everyone back east has been asking me about the weather out here.  Ok, mostly those who have never visited Colorado.  You see, apparently everyone on the east coast believes that Denver is high on a mountain top.  Not so!   Here's a spoiler for those who haven't visited yet: Denver's nickname is the Queen City of the Plains.  Plains?  Yes, plains.  It's flat here.  Flat in a way that my rolling-hills-of-the-mid-Atlantic-Appalachians self couldn't imagine until I first visited.  Vast and FLAT:

Looking east, past the 'burbs southeast of Denver.
At least it's not Iowa.

But if you look west:

Mountains!

Central Park off of MLK Jr Blvd

Anyway, living in the middle of a continent and above 5000', the weather patterns are certainly different than living 2 hours away from the Atlantic Ocean. So let's compare the data!

Allentown, PA

	Units	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average High	°F	36	40	50	62	72	80	85	83	75	64	53	41	62
Average Low	°F	21	23	30	40	49	59	64	62	54	42	34	25	42
Precipitation	"	3	3	3	4	4	4	5	4	5	4	3	4	45
Snowfall	"	11	11	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	34
Average Relative Humidity	%	69	67	64	62	66	67	68	71	73	71	71	71	68
Mean Daily Sunshine	Hours	5	6	7	7	8	9	9	8	7	7	5	4	7

Denver, CO

	Units	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average High	°F	44	46	54	61	71	82	89	86	78	65	52	43	64
Average Low	°F	19	21	27	35	44	53	59	58	49	37	26	18	37
Precipitation	"	0	0	1	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	15
Snowfall	"	7	6	10	6	1	0	0	0	1	4	9	10	53
Average Relative Humidity	%	56	56	54	51	54	52	51	52	51	51	59	59	54
Mean Daily Sunshine	Hours	7	8	8	9	9	11	11	10	9	8	7	6	9

Comparison

	City	Units	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average High	Allentown, PA	°F	36	40	50	62	72	80	85	83	75	64	53	41	62
	Denver, CO		44	46	54	61	71	82	89	86	78	65	52	43	64
Average Low	Allentown, PA	°F	21	23	30	40	49	59	64	62	54	42	34	25	42
	Denver, CO		19	21	27	35	44	53	59	58	49	37	26	18	37
Precipitation	Allentown, PA	"	3	3	3	4	4	4	5	4	5	4	3	4	45
	Denver, CO		0	0	1	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	15
Snowfall	Allentown, PA	"	11	11	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	34
	Denver, CO		7	6	10	6	1	0	0	0	1	4	9	10	53
Average Relative Humidity	Allentown, PA	%	69	67	64	62	66	67	68	71	73	71	71	71	68
	Denver, CO		56	56	54	51	54	52	51	52	51	51	59	59	54
Mean Daily Sunshine*	Allentown, PA	Hours	5	6	7	7	8	9	9	8	7	7	5	4	7
	Denver, CO		7	8	8	9	9	11	11	10	9	8	7	6	9

As you can see, the basic differences are:

• Average High: Allentown's average high is a few degrees cooler than Denver's average high.
• Average Low: Allentown's average low is a few degrees warmer than Denver's average low.
• Snowfall: Denver receives an average of 53" of snow per year, while Allentown only receives 34", but...
• Precipitation: Allentown receives 45" of precipitation per year, while Denver only receives 15".  
• Humidity: It's pretty dry in Denver... 54% average relative humidity for the year, with the winter being the most humid.  Allentown is at 68% average for the year.
• Sunshine: Denver is the clear winner here, with 9 sunshine hours per day (mean).

Humidity and sunshine hours are the biggest differences.  Allentown has overcast weather for much of the winter season, and is pretty humid all year.  Denver's winters are much more sunny (though both cities are at nearly the same latitude), and is generally not very humid at all.  Denver's general lack of humidity contributes to that 53" of snow melting into less than 15" of water.  Spring and summer rainstorms in PA can last a week, whereas July in Denver brings the daily 30-minute thunderstorms, followed by clear skies and sunshine.

Notes

Allentown's temperature/precipitation/snowfall measurements were taken at Lehigh Valley International Airport (1981-2010).  This is pretty much in the center of the Lehigh Valley metro area.

Denver's temperature/precipitation/snowfall measurements were taken at Stapleton International Airport (1981-1995) and Denver International Airport (1995-2010). While Stapleton is quite a bit closer to the city than the new Denver International Airport (19 miles closer!), both sets of measurements were taken relatively far from the actual urban area, which is generally a few degrees warmer than the surrounding areas, and gets a different amount of precipitation. NOAA does have data from Denver Water (near downtown), but it starts in 1997 as opposed to 1981, which is when both Denver's and Allentown's airport data begin. For a consistent comparison, I chose to use the Denver Airport data.

For your enjoyment, here is a map of Denver's new and old airports:

View Denver Airport Locations in a larger map

Data Sources

• Temperature/Precipitation/Snowfall: NOAA
• Denver
• Allentown
• Average Relative Humidity: NOAA
• US Cities
• Mean Daily Sunshine Hours: Hong Kong Observatory
• Denver
• Philadelphia (closest available measurement to Allentown)