In fact, the Barrow area has probably the harshest weather in
Alaska. Owing to its location 320 miles north of the Arctic Circle,
Barrow's climate is cold and dry and is classified as a polar climate.
Temperatures remain below freezing from early October through late May.
The high daily temperature is above freezing on an average of only 109
days per year.
The sun shines and never sets for 82 days from
early May to early August and it is dark for 51 - 67 days (the sun
never rises) between November and January.
Barrow is one of
the top 100 birding spots in America. Although the diversity of birds
is somewhat small, the annual visitors are spectacular. All four
species of Eider ducks migrate along the coast and nest in the local
tundra. Barrow is the only spot in America that you can reliably
expect to see the elusive Ross's gull which appear, sometimes in great
numbers, during the last week of September through the first couple of
weeks of October.
Although it is possible to see polar bears
through out the year, October and November allow for the most likely
viewing opportunities.