The Juneau area has received more than a foot of snow since Tuesday, and although the area seemed to have a bit of reprieve by Wednesday evening, forecasters say, another winter storm is headed that way.
From 12 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, 9.8 inches of snow accumulated at Juneau International Airport and 8.8 inches in the Mendenhall Valley. On Wednesday night, National Weather Service meteorologist Edward Liske said weather in the Juneau area had calmed down a bit.
"It's not snowing hard if it's snowing at all," Liske said.
By Thursday, another storm is expected to make its way to Southeast Alaska from the Alaska Peninsula, Liske said. NWS issued a winter weather advisory for the Juneau area, which is in effect from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday.
The storm that dumped snow on the area Tuesday and Wednesday was part of an eastward movement of an Arctic air mass that has also lowered temperatures across Southcentral Alaska this week.
Juneau police dispatchers said several cars slid off roads Tuesday, but no serious injuries were reported. Officers briefly had to close part of Egan Drive.
Juneau-based NWS meteorologist Geri Swanson said early Wednesday her office hadn't heard any reports of significant local damage or problems from the snow.
"We're expecting another 6 to 7 inches between now and 4 p.m.," Swanson said. "Snowplows are out in full force this morning -- of course it's just now starting, people going to work."
Only smaller aircraft have been affected by the snow, Swanson said, with no closures ordered at Juneau International Airport.
"Luckily it's been more snow showers than straight-up snow -- the [cloud] ceilings have been actually pretty good," Swanson said. "Once the snow showers pass, the visibility goes up and they're able to land and take off."
A winter storm warning for the Yakutat area has ended after the region received at least 10.6 inches of snow on Tuesday. There was no snow accumulation in Yakutat Wednesday, Liske said.
NWS also issued several other Thursday winter weather warnings for the Susitna Valley, Upper Kuskokwim Valley, the Yukon Delta, Eastern Norton Sound, St. Lawrence Island and the Bering Strait coast.