Alaska News

Snow and cold forecast to return to much of Alaska starting Friday

Alaska's trademark cold and snowy winter may reappear this weekend on the heels of a mild and rainy February.

A winter storm will roll into Southcentral, Southwest and Western Alaska on Friday, bringing significant snowfall but spreading it unevenly across the regions, according to the National Weather Service, which described the storm as "potent."

The weather service issued a winter weather advisory for the Anchorage Hillside in effect from 6 p.m. Friday to noon Saturday. Between 6 and 9 inches of snow is expected to fall there, said Andy Dixon, a meteorologist with the weather service.

The municipality's lower elevations will see 2 to 3 inches of snow, with a southerly wind likely hampering accumulation, Dixon said. It will be "the kind of snowflakes that will go splat on the windshield," he said.

Mat-Su is also under a winter weather advisory Friday and into Saturday morning, with 6 to 10 inches of snow forecast. The most snow will fall in the Talkeetna Mountains, the weather service said.

The weather service issued a winter storm warning for much of Western Alaska starting Friday morning, with snow accumulation ranging from 6 to 12 inches. The Bethel region is under a winter weather advisory from 6 a.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Saturday, with 2 to 4 inches of snow in the forecast.

The snow will be quickly followed by an Arctic blast. Cold air from Eastern Siberia will sweep across Alaska starting Saturday, dropping temperatures to between 10 and 20 degrees below normal.The cold will hang around through next week, according to the weather service.

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By Monday, high temperatures in Southcentral will be in the teens. In Anchorage, high temperatures average in the low 30s this time of year.

On Sunday, the Arctic air will arrive in Southeast Alaska with snow expected. It will hit the central and eastern Interior by the middle of next week, Dixon said.

In Fairbanks, high temperatures will plummet from 30 on Saturday to a high near zero by Wednesday, NWS said.

Tegan Hanlon

Tegan Hanlon was a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News between 2013 and 2019. She now reports for Alaska Public Media.

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