Blizzard conditions are set to sweep into the western Prince William Sound area starting Tuesday evening, dumping at least half a foot of snow on the Seward Highway between Girdwood and Turnagain Pass.
A blizzard warning, issued by the National Weather Service in Anchorage, will be in effect from 10 p.m. Tuesday through 6 p.m. Wednesday. It calls for 7 to 20 inches of snow and wind gusts of up to 50 mph, with the deepest snow – 10 to 20 inches – from Turnagain Pass north toward Whittier.
NWS meteorologist Carson Jones said the storm is being driven by a low-pressure system, set to move east past Kodiak Island overnight Tuesday. The system’s storm front is expected to move into the Kenai Mountains of western Prince William Sound by early Wednesday.
Jones said the storm’s strongest effects – including visibility reduced to a quarter mile and slick roads – will likely be felt in Whittier, as well as the highway between Girdwood and Turnagain Pass.
“Most of that corridor will kind of be in the 6-to-15, 6-to-12-inch range, kind of at sea level,” Jones said. “And then as you go into Turnagain Pass, we’re expecting up to the 20 inches there.”
Lesser amounts of heavy snow, with gusts up to 35 mph, are expected from Summit Lake into the Seward area.
Anchorage and the Mat-Su region may see slight increases in snowfall Wednesday, according to Jones. No other major storms are entering the area after Wednesday.
“This one kind of looks to be the last, more impactful one, at least for the foreseeable future,” Jones said.
Chris Klint is a web producer and breaking news reporter at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cklint@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Chris here.
