published on July 30, 2024 in Quick Update

Anchorage tallies 100 inches of snow, the earliest on record for a winter

Anchorage is having a banner winter for snowfall. A total of 104.3 inches of snow have been measured in the city this season, after a fresh 16.6 inches fell Sunday into Monday.

That’s the most on record to date — by over a foot compared to the old record high — and more than twice the average to date around 50 inches. The snowfall total is already at least two feet more than average for a whole season, putting the record for snowiest winter within reach.

Schools in Alaska’s biggest city were closed on Monday due to the heavy snowfall. Cleanup was expected to last through the weekend.

Last week, before the latest snow, city officials warned that snow loads were dangerously high for so early in the season and urged removal where necessary. There have been several roof collapses this winter and last winter, including one fatal incident reported at a gym.

Historic snowfall has significantly affected the homeless and vulnerable populations. After suffering record deaths of homeless people outdoors during 2023, Anchorage has extended a public health and safety emergency into mid-February.

It’s also been a stormy month in the capital of Juneau in Alaska’s southeast. While much of the recent snow has melted in warmer and rainier conditions, the city is running 11th snowiest to date with nearly 90 inches of snow — 5 feet of which fell in about two weeks earlier in January.

The snowy statistics

January has been one to remember, even by Alaska standards. “Statewide, most places have above-normal snowfall,” said Brian Brettschneider, a climatologist based in Anchorage.

It’s been consistently snowy since November in that city. November was the snowiest on record, December was the third-snowiest on record and January looks to end up the seventh-snowiest on record, according to Brettschneider.

Key stats for the season so far include:

Earliest to 100 inches — Before this winter, the record snowiest 2011-2012 also held the record for the quickest to reach 100 inches of snow. It reached the mark on Feb. 3, 2012.
Two top 15 snowstorms — November’s 17.2 inches was the ninth-snowiest on record. The storm ending Monday made it to 11th-biggest.
Ninth winter to reach and pass 100 inches — The snowiest winter on record is 134.5 inches in 2011-2012.
Second time there has been back-to-back 100-inch winters — Last season’s 107.9 inch snowfall total was also well above average. Only once before have two winters in a row reached 100 or more inches. The other time was 1954-1955 (132.6 inches) and 1955-1956 (128.8 inches).

From super snowy to rapid melting in Juneau

Snow furiously fell on the coastal city of Juneau from Jan. 13-15, with more than two feet accumulating over a few days. Following a short break, another three feet arrived the next week.

Two longtime residents of Juneau, Lindsey Bloom and Bailey Williams, said neither they nor their families have ever seen anything like the wild swings of recent weeks.

“It was the second time I’ve shoveled off the roof,” Bloom said. “Skiing on Sunday to bare ground today. It’s crazy for the time of year.”

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While the forecasts called for snow, the persistence of heavy activity took many by surprise. Snowfall was so weighty that it caused a number of boats to sink while in harbor.

“Last week Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday there was no school, which is very unusual,” Bloom said. “They just couldn’t keep things cleared.”

In the two major snowstorms, white stuff poured down for days on end. The 34.5 inches from Jan. 21-23 was among the top five snowiest three days on record there. A total of 28.3 inches accumulated in a similar amount of time the week before.

With so much snow at once, officials had difficulty keeping up with all the locations that needed assistance, Williams said. She pointed out that as the snow piled up the mood changed from “we can handle it, we’ll be fine” to “maybe we’re not so ready.”

Snow depth reached 36 inches on Jan. 23 in the city, which was the deepest snow there since 1965-1966 when 38 inches was observed. The greatest snow depth on record was 41 inches in 1948-1949.

Juneau picked up 62.8 inches of snow in 11 days ending on Jan. 23, the most for an 11-day stretch, according to Brettschneider. He also noted that the 70 inches for January is the third-snowiest there in any month.

Over recent days, an influx of warmer air has led to rain, record temperatures, melting and flooding in the area. On Monday, the official report included only one inch of snow on the ground.

In Fairbanks, near the state’s center and further removed from a moisture source to the north of the Alaska Range, snowfall tallies are running close to normal.

Persistent below-average temperatures in Alaska recently have teamed up with snow across the state, although cold has tended to relax somewhat when snowstorms move in.

Climate change driving precipitation increase

Copious snowfall this winter may be thanks in part to the ongoing El Niño climate pattern in the Pacific Ocean. It tends to add moisture to storms. A related and persistent area of low pressure south of the state has kept the stormy conditions coming.

Climate change is also injecting higher moisture levels into the region.

Warmer water and air temperatures are directly responsible for increasing precipitation in Alaska and other high-latitude locations. Despite the persistent storminess, most of the surface water in the North Pacific Ocean is running above to well above average for temperatures.

Since 2004 Anchorage has seen five of the top 10 wettest years on record. The wettest on record was in 2022, and 2023 ended up the third-wettest on record. Additionally, much of Alaska’s coastal region is now in the midst of one of the wettest winters observed.

And despite the historic snow, temperatures have been warmer than average intermixed with colder periods that usually aren’t as cold as in the past.”

The early-season snowy onslaught came amid one of the state’s warmest Novembers on record, with snow often accumulating as temperatures hovered near freezing. And while the recent bout of snow has been accompanied by extreme cold in parts of the state, the cold has not been enough to threaten low-temperature records on a wide scale.

Since 1980, average wintertime temperatures are up by about 5 degrees in Anchorage and roughly 4 degrees in Juneau and Fairbanks.

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