Get out the shovel. The National Weather Service is calling for several inches of heavy, wet snow in Southcentral Alaska.
Forecasters predict several inches of accumulation from the storm. Christian Cassell is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Anchorage. He says the storm formed in the Pacific and is pushing across the Bering sea, moving on shore in Southwest Alaska.
“Right now the system is moving on shore in Southwest Alaska and we have freezing rain advisories for the Bristol Bay and Kuskokwim Delta regions. And then the system will be moving north and east into the Kenai Peninsula. And there it’s gonna be mixing in with rain so we’re not expecting significant accumulations there. Here in Anchorage, we should stay just cold enough to stay all snow until the front passes,” Cassell said.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for Anchorage. Cassell says the snow storm has been on their radar for several days now. They’ve been predicting snow followed by freezing rain for the Southcentral region.
“But now our confidence is increasing as we get closer to the event. We’re expecting really a moderate to heavy wet snow beginning around midnight and persisting through the morning. After that we do have some concern as the front goes through. We may warm up just enough to where we see like a persistent drizzle or freezing drizzle for the afternoon hours tomorrow and then we should change over to just a light snow for the afternoon hours tomorrow with very minor accumulations,” Cassell said.
Cassell says the flakes should start flying near midnight with 4 to 7 inches falling in Anchorage. Some areas to the North are expected to get a foot or more of snow, including in the Matanuska Susitna Valley.
Daysha Eaton is a contributor with the Alaska Public Radio Network.
Daysha Eaton holds a B.A. from Evergreen State College, and a M.A. from the University of Southern California. Daysha got her start in radio at Seattle public radio stations, KPLU and KUOW. Before coming to KBBI, she was the News Director at KYUK in Bethel. She has also worked as the Southcentral Reporter for KSKA in Anchorage.
Daysha's work has appeared on NPR's "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered", PRI's "The World" and "National Native News". She's happy to take assignments, and to get news tips, which are best sent via email.
Daysha became a journalist because she believes in the power of storytelling. Stories connect us and they help us make sense of our world. They shed light on injustice and they comfort us in troubled times. She got into public broadcasting because it seems to fulfill the intention of the 4th Estate and to most effectively apply the freedom of the press granted to us through the Constitution. She feels that public radio has a special way of moving people emotionally through sound, taking them to remote places, introducing them to people they would not otherwise meet and compelling them to think about issues they might ordinarily overlook.
