Yes, there is a lot of snow in Alaska. But can you build a snowman? Does anyone have a swimming pool or play golf? And what weather does it take for schools to close?

Our guest this week is Brian Brettschneider, a climatologist working for the National Weather Service in Anchorage, Alaska. He is famous in weather circles for his social media presence (Twitter: @Climatologist49) and the weather maps he produces, from the serious to the silly.

Brettschneider corrects misconceptions about winters and summers in Alaska, including the everyday adjustments needed living north of the the Lower 48. He also relays surprising stats about the size of Alaska’s vegetables!

About the Across the Sky podcast

The weekly weather podcast is hosted on a rotation by the Lee Weather team:

Matt Holiner of Lee Enterprises' Midwest group in Chicago, Kirsten Lang of the Tulsa World in Oklahoma, Joe Martucci of the Press of Atlantic City, N.J., and Sean Sublette of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia.