A 12-hour blizzard warning will take effect Sunday evening for western areas of Prince William Sound, according to the National Weather Service.
According to the blizzard warning, posted Sunday morning, Portage Valley and Turnagain Arm can expect 3 to 6 inches of snow from 6 p.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday. Visibility may fall to a quarter-mile or less during the snowfall.
"Blizzard conditions will start this evening and become more intense after midnight," forecasters wrote. "Conditions are expected to improve early Monday morning."
Dave Kramer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Anchorage office, said the blizzard was the product of a weather front crossing the southern part of the state over the weekend. He said most of the blizzard's snow would fall Sunday.
The region's forecast calls for high temperatures in the lower 20s to the lower 30s Sunday, with winds from 15 to 30 mph reaching 25 to 40 mph early Monday.
According to Kramer, people can expect winds to remain increased into Monday, with the forecast calling for Monday speeds up to 25 mph.
"Conditions will be pretty bad and people won't want to be out on the roads," Kramer said. "There'll still be some gustier winds -- they just won't be as strong as that 25 to 40 mph."
Anchorage proper was expected to see some scattered snow showers, particularly after midnight, though the bulk of the snowfall was expected to the south.
One occupant of the blizzard area was celebrating the expected snowfall. With 164 inches of snowfall since Oct. 1, the Alyeska Resort in Girdwood announced that it is opening the Tram Pocket on its North Face -- a section of expert terrain beneath the resort's tram -- for the first time in two years.