Dry eyes in Fairbanks, Alaska

Fairbanks eyes dry out mostly indoors. NOAA’s normals put the January high near 1°F, so furnaces, wood stoves and boilers run for most of the year, and that heated air pulls water from the tear film. Short winter days add hours of screen time. Wear a face covering against stinging cold outside, add moisture to the rooms you live in, and use a lubricating drop exactly as its label directs.

How cold Fairbanks gets, by NOAA’s numbers

NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 climate normals for Fairbanks International Airport describe one of the coldest cities in the country. These are averages over thirty years, so any single winter can run colder or milder:

• January’s normal high is 0.6°F and its normal low is -17.2°F.
• About 114 nights a year drop below zero.
• The temperature falls to freezing or lower on roughly 222 nights.
• On about 154 days a year, the high never climbs above freezing.
• Snow covers the ground, at least an inch deep, for about 190 days.
• Heating degree days total about 13,420 a year, against just 68 cooling degree days.

That last pair says the most about your eyes. Fairbanks almost never needs air conditioning, but it needs heat from September into May and on plenty of summer nights too. Air that arrives at -20°F holds very little water, and once a furnace warms it to 70°F, it feels parched. Your eyes spend most waking hours in that air.

Ice fog and the coldest days

The National Weather Service glossary describes ice fog as fog made of tiny ice particles that forms in very cold, clear, calm weather at high latitudes, and says it’s rare at temperatures warmer than -30°C. It grows thicker near sources of water vapor, and the glossary names products of combustion among them. In Fairbanks that means car exhaust, chimneys and power plant stacks during a deep cold snap, which is why the haze tends to hang over roads, parking lots and the downtown core.

Walking through ice fog, eyes often sting and water at first. That watering is a reflex to cold and irritation, and it isn’t the same as a well-balanced tear film. Once you step back inside, the heat dries everything quickly. A scarf or neck gaiter pulled up to the cheekbones, plus glasses or goggles, keeps the coldest air off the surface of the eye. Dry eyes from cold air explains why cold air and dry eyes go together.

Under four hours of December sun

The U.S. Naval Observatory’s calculator puts sunrise in Fairbanks at 10:58 a.m. and sunset at 2:40 p.m. on December 21, 2026, a little over three and a half hours of sun. On June 21 the same source shows sunrise at 2:58 a.m., with the sky never getting darker than civil twilight through the night.

Both extremes shape eye habits. In December, work, school and errands happen under lamps and screen light, and long evenings fill with reading, streaming and gaming. Screens reduce how often you blink, so the tear film sits exposed for longer between refreshes. In June, people stay outside late, sleep less and spend hours squinting into a sun that barely sets. Short nights of sleep leave eyes feeling scratchy by afternoon.

A calm city with a dry spring

Wind is the big eye complaint in many western cities, but not here. NOAA’s Comparative Climatic Data table of average wind speeds, which covers about 265 weather stations, ranks Fairbanks 262nd, among the calmest anywhere in the country. Its breeziest month is May, and December is its stillest.

The same NOAA set’s humidity table shows the outdoor air at its driest in spring. Afternoon relative humidity at the airport averages 45 percent in April and 37 percent in May, just as snowmelt, road dust and the first long outdoor days arrive. Breakup season can leave eyes gritty from grit kicked off thawing roads, so glasses on bike rides and walks help.

Daily life in Fairbanks that wears on the eyes

• Plugging in the block heater, scraping the windshield, then driving with the defroster roaring at your face.
• Wood stoves and pellet stoves that keep a cabin warm but bake the air near the couch.
• Hours in heated classrooms and labs at the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.
• Late nights outside watching for the aurora, staring upward into cold, still air without blinking much.
• Shifts at Fort Wainwright or Eielson, or on job sites around the Interior, where the cold and dry heat trade off all winter.
• Long drives on the Richardson or Parks Highway in the dark, with the vents running.

Practical steps for a Fairbanks winter

• Run a clean humidifier in the bedroom; does a humidifier help dry eyes? covers settings and upkeep.
• Point car vents at your chest or feet, not your face.
• Sit away from the wood stove and keep space heaters aimed away from where you rest.
• Take a screen break every so often and blink fully a few times.
• Keep the bottle in your home or inner coat pocket, not the vehicle. The label says Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F), and a parked car in a Fairbanks winter spends weeks far below that range.
• If a bottle has been frozen, check it before using it. The label says If this product changes color, and a pharmacist can help if you’re not sure.

Where Quell fits

The label’s Uses read: For use as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye. Quell is designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss, which is the side of the problem that dry, heated air works on. Its active ingredients are Glycerol (1.0%), Polysorbate 80 (1.0%) and Light Mineral Oil (0.5%), and the directions are Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye. Read the full Drug Facts first, including the warning: Caution should be used in those with egg or bird allergies — For use in the eyes only.

A drop is a comfort measure, not a check-up. If dryness keeps coming back, or your eyes hurt or your vision changes, the label’s advice applies: Stop use and ask a doctor if you feel eye pain or changes in your vision, if irritation or redness continues, or if the condition worsens or persists for 72 hours. Eye symptoms that need a doctor lists the signs that call for an exam rather than another drop.

Ordering Quell to Fairbanks

Quell ships to Alaska from Brentwood, Tennessee. Shipping is $10.00 per order, and 3 bottles ship free. No delivery date is promised, and an order bound for the Interior in deep winter can sit in cold vehicles along the way, so open the box indoors and look at the bottle before first use. The Fairbanks page and the Alaska page have local details, and Dry eyes in Anchorage covers the coastal side of the state.