Winter storm breaks snowfall records in Anchorage
Anchorage resident Stephen Richardson recorded the snowfall Thursday between 4 and 5 a.m. local time. He said he received about 18 inches of snow, which was being cleared by a tractor in Richardson’s footage. (Courtesy of Stephen Richardson via Storyful)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A winter storm brought record snowfall to Anchorage, Alaska, with some areas outside of Anchorage proper receiving more than 2 feet of snow in just two days.
Alaska’s largest city broke its daily snowfall record Wednesday, with 9 inches of snow falling in 24 hours. As a reminder, the previous record on November 8 was 7.3 inches, set in 1982. Another 8.2 inches accumulated on Thursday, which also broke the daily record of 7.1 inches set on November 9, 1956 This brought Anchorage’s two-day total to 17.2. centimeters of snow.
Two dogs are seen leaping in the snow in Anchorage. November 10, 2023. (@Climatologist49 / WEATHER TRAKER /TMX / FOX Météo)
As of Thursday evening, Anchorage had a snow depth of 21 inches, the total amount of snow on the ground. This is the deepest snowfall in Anchorage this early in the season, according to an Alaska-based climatologist. Brian Brettschneider. Already, 26.6 inches of snow have fallen in Anchorage this season, which is 17.5 inches more than the average snowfall to date for November 9.
The image below shows the amount of snow that fell Wednesday east of Anchorage along the Richardson Highway above Thompson Pass. FOX Weather winter weather expert Tom Niziol said 65 inches of snow fell in less than 24 hours at Thompson Pass during this winter storm. That 65-inch report was less than 16 miles from where Alaska’s 24-hour snowfall record of 78 inches was set on Feb. 9, 1963, according to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.
East of Anchorage, the Richardson Highway over Thompson Pass (MP 19-63) was closed due to heavy snow and wind from the storm. (Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities/FOX Weather)
Snow totals in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, located northwest of Anchorage proper, ranged from 9.5 inches near Wasilla to 15.5 inches near Butte, the National Weather Service in Anchorage » said on X, formerly Twitter. The Eagle River community saw more than 18 inches of snow, while more than 25 inches of snow was measured just south of the Anchorage suburbs.
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Anchorage resident Stephen Richardson recorded video of the snowfall between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. local time on Thursday. He said he received about 18 inches of snow, which was being cleared by a tractor in Richardson’s footage.
A John Deere tractor clears snow in Anchorage, Alaska. (Stephen Richardson via Storyful/FOX Weather)
On Thursday, Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson declared a snow emergency.
“The snow accumulation was greater than expected and, due to the heavy snowfall, several trees fell,” the mayor’s office said. “Street maintenance operations responded to 40 downed trees in the last 15 hours.”
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Such heavy snowfall in Anchorage led to power outages, as well as school and road closures, according to the Anchorage Daily News. Heavy snowfall forced some pedestrians to walk on the roadway, with sidewalks buried in snow.
Anchorage sidewalks are covered in about 2 feet of snow, forcing pedestrians to walk on the road. November 11, 2023. (@Climatologue49 / X / FOX Météo)
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The NWS weather forecast for Anchorage calls for partly to mostly sunny skies over Veterans Day weekend, with more snow expected Sunday night after midnight.