Baked Alaska: Craziest weather yet as heat wave takes country from ice to fire

A heat wave hitting Alaska doesn't rival the blazing heat of Phoenix or Las Vegas, but to residents of the 49th state, the weather feels like a stifling oven — or a tropical paradise.

With temperatures topping 80 degrees in Anchorage, and higher in other parts of the state, people have been sweltering in a place where few homes have air conditioning.

(AP)

The official afternoon high in Anchorage Tuesday was 81 degrees, breaking the city's record of 80 set in 1926 for that date. Mid-June normally brings highs in the 60s.

Other communities are seeing higher temperatures, including 96 degrees in the town of Talkeetna.

Weather forecasters say a high pressure system locking the region in baking temperatures has shifted and Wednesday should be the start of a cooling trend.