With latest storm, Anchorage’s winter snow total is almost double the usual amount

A winter storm dropped more than 14 inches of snow on Anchorage over the weekend, causing dangerous road conditions and closing public schools Monday.

National Weather Service meteorologist Matthew Fazal said most of the snow, nearly 9 inches, fell between Sunday and Monday morning — and that’s just the snowfall recorded at the gauge post at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

“As you head toward Hillside, we’ve had reports of 16 to 18 inches of snow and that may have been since late Saturday,” Fazal said.

This weekend’s snowfall is contributing to a much snowier than normal winter for Anchorage.

To date, Anchorage has seen about 71 inches of snow this winter, nearly double the average of about 37 inches. Fazal said more than 23 inches of snow fell in Anchorage this month alone.

“Normal is six,” Fazal said. “So that puts us 17.5 inches above normal.”

Fazal said the snowfall should slow down for the rest of the week.

“There doesn’t seem to be any high snow, unlike anything we’ve gotten in recent days,” Fazal said. “About less than half an inch. Some light snow appears to be coming into town tomorrow and should be ready by tomorrow night then.”

Classes were still going on while the Anchorage School District closed school buildings and canceled extracurricular activities on Monday. The district has declared a distance learning day.

This is the first day of distance learning under the school district’s new snow day schedule. The district announced last month that it was ready to move students to distance learning for the next snowy day after a trio of winter storms closed schools for an unprecedented six days.

These storms resulted in the snowiest December since the 1950s. While the heavy snowfall this winter is noteworthy, Fazal said it’s too early to tell if Anchorage will break winter records.

“Right now we seem to be above normal,” said Fazal. “But it’s difficult to follow exactly where we’re going to be, even for this month, and place it against the last 30 years.”

In the meantime, Fazal said, the snowfall has fallen on the ice that has already formed, and drivers should take more time to navigate the roads.

Alaska Public Media’s Tegan Hanlon contributed to this report.