I will comment my input on this topic reference to bear in mind I have lived here in the Fairbanks area for 34 plus years now, and for the past 12 winters my current job position requires me to work outside FULL TIME, which I believe my comments will hold some merit as well.
Fairbanks having a current harsh winter this year ? ....you bet !
A colder than average November with significant snowfall to add, a pretty bad storm late December hammered over a foot of snow in a 36 hour period with gusty winds for 5 days (which is typical southcentral Alaska and coastal region weather on the mainland), then more snow and cold, snow again and extreme cold in mid January upon the first -50 F temps reached in 3 winters here -
Daytime high of -51 F below on Jan 18, 2017:
Coldest temp this winter at my residence was -54 F, as Fairbanks has reached their average winter season days of past -20 F already with above average snowfall pace.
Also be aware that BC requires winter rated tires (mountain snowflake symbol) or chains that time of year. With winter tires I've never wished for chains also but our new truck has Firestone M&S so will carry chains this year.
This picture is what Crazy4silvers is referring to and is spot on this post.....
Sep 2011 - Mi 367 Alaska Hwy -Northern British Columbia Canada- :
I have yet to own a 4wd and only 20 times in Fairbanks I wished I had 4wd, and on four occasions have I ever needed to use chains to commute on freezing rain the whole time I lived here....On all my three quarter ton 2wd trucks for winter I have ran siped tread tires or a horizontal snow tire tread for my half ton truck or passenger cars, SOFT compounded rubber quality winter tires only.
Granted, I do not live in the foothills but most of the time I am capable of commuting on them in 2wd during the winter, but certain days no way...any towing during winter is a no no for me too - only 4wd for that....if I ever reside in higher elevations or coastal weather regions in Alaska during winter season, I would only run a 4wd thats for sure.
Insulating the propane tanks won't help keep the gas flowing; rather, it will have the opposite effect. Propane tanks need to absorb heat from the environment as the propane vaporizes; if insulated, they will cool down more and stop working well sooner.
This is what my friend told me that specializes in propane sales as he fills propane full time, as I will add here upon his knowledge relayed to me over the years is that -30 F starts to significantly slow down flowing, as technically propane will stop flowing at -46 F....the best method of keeping propane flowing past -30 F is to install a small wattage heat pad on the bottom of the tank, the same kind one uses a silicone heat pad on an oil pan or transmission pan which is what I do to keep fluids warm when parked during winter.
Towing a big trailer in snow is a disaster waiting to happen.
Please explain how to tow a 33 foot trailer through 5,000 miles of snow. The trailer will be much heavier than the tow vehicle. On every corner the trailer will tend to pull the rear axle of the trailer to the outside of the turn. Even with chains on all 4 wheels it is going to be very difficult.
Towing any size trailer would be real difficult thru 5000 miles of snow, perhaps I would ask you to explain how you got your information upon any route leading to the Alaska Highway and beyond is nothing but a 5000 mile drive of constant snowpack in the winter....
As noted, semis haul their rigs all over Northern Canada and Alaska, throughout the Alaska Highway's 1400 mile route everyday of the year, and believe it or not the roadways are clear over 99 percent of the time during winter as Sue T posted her pictures that are shown....
the Alaska Highway is NOT really a difficult drive during the winter months at all.
The most vulnerable portions of the Alaska Highway leading up to Alaska during the winter is :
The Northern Rockies (between Fort Nelson and Liard Hot Springs)
Any potential patchy ice surfaces on significant hills and grades that have a current temperature near or at freezing (+20 to +35 F) where traction is at it's least grip.
One more note on how the far north works in winter here is the higher the elevation terrain, the warmer the temperature is when climbing.
Most permafrost zones of where the ground stays frozen 5 to 7 months of the year in the majority of the North American road system is roughly within the N62-N63 areas, as the farther you go south the permafrost areas are shorter lived in which is determined on how cold a regional area stays below freezing.....which means the colder the road surfaces are, the better traction you have with quality winter tires.
Unless freezing rain occurs, a snowstorm producing more than 6 inches in any area or a warmspell trying to thaw the road surface during winter making slick conditions, or some other temporary freak of nature that doesn't often occur, one should have no problems towing on the Alaska Highway.....also drive with extreme caution across bridges and crosswinds upon icy surfaces too, a no brainer.
Fuel stops along the major towns on the Alaska Highway is no issue, during the winter off the top of my head I can almost assure the only three remote non town places that would have fuel available in vast stretches would be Toad River BC, Rancheria Lodge YT, and Contact Creek YT....it is just wise to carry extra fuel you feel needing to carry in case there is a glitch of sort at a fuel station or if one miscalculates distance and mileage.
If one does not have the necessary auxiliary tanks to reach more distant areas during winter, I would be most concerned between Fort Nelson BC and Watson Lake YT stretch if I had to rely on Toad River as the only other guaranteed place for fuel within that 300+ miles during winter, should something happen to their fuel pump or power outage of sort or disruption in fuel supply-delivery (crazy things do happen in winter).....The big plus is Toad River was added on an electrical grid I believe since 2012, I believe Contact Creek still uses generator power but Rancheria does for sure, so keep that in mind in case these remote places have generator problems or potential disruption in fuel supply as a small chance of not obtaining fuel.
Another stretch with mild concern would be between Whitehorse and Tok IF one chooses not to fuel up at Otter Falls, Haines Junction, Destruction Bay or Beaver Creek....the reason mentioning is Border City Alaska was not selling any more fuel as of September 2016, and Northway Junction could be hit or miss for fuel (better chances having fuel available the past two years because of Border City's business status).
Keep in mind that the average temperature in Fairbanks in MID March is firmly in the 30's.
We live in Fairbanks and and an average temp in the mid 30's just didn't sound right for us in mid March. All the sources I can find show average high around 25 ave low of -2 for March 15.
Although the past two years in March have been the warmest overall I ever seen in the Fairbanks area, even an average high of +25 F in mid March seems high to me as well....Here in the month of March it still gets -20 F quite a few times and remains well below zero for the majority of the month, and I would say it only gets above +30 F an average of 5 times during the late part of the month, although Fairbanks has had warmspells of +30 F highs upon every winter month.
March has the most cloudless days and gains the most daylight time of the year here in Fairbanks, but also will produce the most windy days in the interior as well (northernly and easternly wind is brutally cold), as westernly wind bring snowstorms, southernly winds bring in warmth also called chinook.
Don't get fooled by "average", as the extremes included in the average are pretty extreme.
You ain't lyin' on this post as the far north weather can get extreme with temperature variation at any given time - In March here in the Interior I only seen past -30 F four times in March, and those coldspells lasted 4 to 7 days....never seen -40 F in March at all, til' 2007 as everyday for two and a half weeks the low was -40 to -44 F before it started being normal again, although the daytime highs were stuck at -15 F during that ugly coldspell it was still cold with all that daylight..... I also seen +40 F on a few days in March as an April coldspell arrived in Fairbanks right after that which turned into 3 weeks of daytime highs of +10 F and a few lows had reached well past -20 F.
First the Pink Foamular is water and moisture resistant (spray it with a hose and see) however I will be covering the bottom of the trailer with coroplast so the insulation will not be open to the elements in any case.
If I did not see this post I would have recommended covering or protecting that pinkboard from exposure with something - whether undercoat, vaporing it, what have ya but something - glad you are using extra precautions for that - I learned to add extra layers of protection for repairs living here in the arctic to prolong materials to keep from exposure and rotting in harsh cold environments.
As mentioned, doing the bucket brigade is pretty much a requirement on disposing waste as no dump stations are available during winter in the far north with an RV - I done this enough times when my home septic would give me problems during colder winters starting in late March til late May....finally got tired of that and invested $80 in straw and insulated the ground as no more bucket brigading for me.
As the end of this post....it is currently -37 F outside.
