The next sunrise in Barrow, Alaska isn't until January 22, 2017

BARROW, ALASKA - In Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost town in the United States, the sun will never rise again.

True story. Every year around this time, Barrow goes without a sunrise for two straight months, a phenomenon called, “Polar Night”. They have the exact opposite problem in the summer when the sun never sets for three straight months, known as “Polar Day”. 

On December 1, Barrow will cease to exist. The town is changing their name back to the original Inupiat Eskimo name of Utqiaġvik. Utqiaġvik means a “place for gathering roots.”

On October 4 of this year, city voters met to decide if they should change their name back to their old name.  After a very narrow vote,  Utqiaġvik won with 381 votes versus 375 votes against, and just like that, the town is going back to its roots. Pun intended.

The current town of Barrow has a population of around 4,200 people. Due to permafrost, they do not pave their roads. Even with global warming, two-thirds of the year, the temperature is below freezing.

If you knew barrow, Alaska at all, it may have been from the movie, “Big Miracle”, starring John Krasinski and Drew Barrymore. The movie was based on a true story of when three California gray whales were trapped in the ice offshore of Barrow and the US and the Russians teamed up to try and get them free.