Anchorage blanketed in white after first sizable snowfall

Anchorage saw its first sizable snowfall over the weekend, with a little more than six inches falling on Sunday. 

According to the National Weather Service, it’s the most snowfall ever recorded on Nov. 5 in Anchorage, shattering the previous record of 3.8 inches from 1964.

By noon Monday, Weather Service meteorologist Christian Landry said, the city had gotten another inch or so of snow, with little variation around town.

“It seems to be a fairly consistent pattern across Anchorage,” Landry said.

The light snow should continue into Monday afternoon, tapering off in the evening, Landry said.

Road conditions were a little hazardous Sunday and Monday. Anchorage police say they received 28 calls for vehicles in distress due to snow on Sunday, and they recorded 27 collisions, nine of them with injuries. By 11:15 a.m. Monday, police say they’d seen another 26 vehicles in distress and a dozen collisions, two of them with injuries.

Anchorage resident Jessie Maxim spent more than an hour Monday morning shoveling his driveway before moving on to do the same for his grandfather. 

“It’s pretty typical,” Maxim said. “It’s a little wet and heavy. So I’m trying to get to it before it warms up any more, and then the snow blower won’t pick it up very good.”

Landry, the meteorologist, said Tuesday should be fairly dry, but Wednesday’s forecast includes both snow and rain, as a weather system moves in from the Bering Sea.

“Some of that warm air is going to be moving into our area, and we’re trying to discern where that line is, when the snow will end, and the rain will begin, so to speak,” Landry said.

As of Monday, Landry said, it’s too early to tell how that rain could impact road conditions, and he advised caution in the meantime.

For Maxim, he’s confident his driveway and his grandfather’s will be ready for the warm weather coming this week.

“That way, when it warms up, it turns to pavement,” Maxim said. “Throw a little ice melt down, it’ll dry up.”