Fairbanks hit with record-breaking cold: 41 below

FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- Alaska's second-largest city is used to cold weather, but few residents expected record-breaking cold this early in the season.

Shawn Ross has lived in Fairbanks his entire life and says few people were prepared for this severe of a cold snap in mid-November.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported that for the second time in three days, Fairbanks set a new low temperature record Nov. 17. A temperature of 41 degrees below zero -- the first 40 below temperature of the season -- was recorded at Fairbanks International Airport at 6:29 a.m.

The National Weather Service in Fairbanks says that broke the old record of 39 below set in 1969.

The last time Fairbanks residents saw 40-below temperatures in November was in 1994.