ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The temperature in Alaska's second-largest city never reached 30 degrees below zero last winter, but Mother Nature is making up for it this year. At Fairbanks International Airport, the mercury dipped to minus 50 on Wednesday. Meteorologist Christopher Cox of the National Weather Service says Fairbanks averages 11 to 12 days of temperatures that reach 40 below zero or colder each winter. He attributes the recent cold snap to a low pressure trough that moved in from Siberia. Clouds that reflect heat back to the surface protected Fairbanks until Tuesday afternoon. Cox says the clouds are expected to be back Thursday, and the temperature could increase by 10 to 20 degrees. The official coldest spot in the state was 130 miles west of the city, in the village of Tanana (TAN-nah-naw), which hit minus 59.Read more on NewsOK.com