Alaska News

Yakutat gets heavy snowfall from Southeast storm

Southeast Alaska got plenty of snow Tuesday as a mass of frigid Arctic air entered the region.

Juneau-based National Weather Service meteorologist Rick Fritsch said Yakutat appeared to have been hit the hardest with 10.6 inches of snow falling from midnight to 2 p.m. Tuesday.

"Believe it or not, that's not actually the record," Fritsch said around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. The previous record for Nov. 17 in Yakutat was set in 1951, with 13.2 inches of snow.

It snowed in Sitka for about eight hours straight, but the temperatures stayed above freezing for most of the day, so Fritsch wasn't sure how much snow actually accumulated there.

The bulk of the snow that fell in Juneau happened in mid-afternoon, Fritsch said. From 12 a.m. to 3 p.m., 4.1 inches of snow fell in Fairbanks.

Meteorologist Richard Lam said earlier Tuesday that the snowfall resulted from the same Arctic air mass that has brought sharp temperature drops to Southcentral Alaska this week.

"The cold from you guys (in Anchorage) is actually contributing to what we're seeing," Lam said. "We're just several days behind you in general weather pattern."

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Interaction between the cold air and relatively warm waters beneath it are helping to drive the snowfall, Lam said.

"As the cold air passes over the Gulf of Alaska, the Gulf of Alaska water is really warm, 48 to 51 degrees," Lam said. "It's (coming) up like a boiling pot of water, and that's driving the snowfall we've seen in Yakutat."

As the cold air moves east, Lam said it has also extended the reach of the weather pattern inland.

"These snow showers will normally die along the coastline, but we've got this Arctic air front over Juneau all the way to the coast -- they were able to make it all the way over to Juneau."

Chris Klint

Chris Klint is a former ADN reporter who covered breaking news.

Megan Edge

Megan Edge is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News.

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