My partner and I live in suburban Maryland. In spite of 104°F temperatures and a wicked derecho that came through here at about 10:30 Friday night with 70 mph winds, we're fine. We didn't even lose power, though the lights flickered numerous times, even before the wind started. That wind was even scary to me, a weather junkie! For more on Friday's derecho, check out Weatherdude's diary from last Saturday. Many folks in the Baltimore-DC-Richmond area are still without power with the heat continuing, though at a somewhat less extreme level (mid-90s is bad enough, believe me!).
Now for the subject at hand. Here's what Barrow AK looked like at about 6 a.m. Alaska time on Sunday 1 July 2012 . There's floating ice away from the immediate coast, and the near-shore is either ice-free or that's one heckuva melt pond! It was a pretty much normal 34°F at the time of the webcam photo.
More below the orange cloud of doom.