Anchorage Daily News

Accidents and vehicles in distress on Anchorage roads mounted Monday evening as the first layer of snow in town for the season began turning to ice, according to Anchorage police.

Police say the usual smash-up derby that accompanies the first snowfall was largely absent during the morning commute after between one inch and six inches of powder fell around town. Between midnight and 7 a.m., police responded to only 14 accidents and about eight vehicles in distress, which include those in ditches or have problems getting traction.

But by 8 p.m. police said they had responded to 61 accidents and 52 vehicles in distress, plus six accidents with minor injuries.

"There were more, but it was probably due to the fact that in the evening you have more cars going on the roads simultaneously and you have some solar radiation warming the snow, and then it refreezes," police spokesman Lt. Dave Parker said. "Also, the more cars you have, the more the snow melts and then refreezes."

In Mat-Su, Alaska State Troopers said there were only about a dozen accidents and vehicles in distress from midnight until mid-afternoon.

"It was really slow on the highway this morning," troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said the commuter traffic.

The snowfall dropped one to six inches across Anchorage from 6 p.m. Sunday until about 4 a.m. Monday. It covered the town in time to become one of the latest dates Anchorage has received its first measurable snowfall, the National Weather Service said. The record for the latest first measurable snow is Nov. 13, 2002.

The deepest powder, 6.7 inches, fell seven miles southeast of downtown Eagle River, the weather service said. The least amount, 1.3 inches, fell at the weather service's Sand Lake measuring station.

Surrounding areas were also blanketed: Timberline Drive in Girdwood measured in at 3.4 inches and Trunk Road at the Palmer-Wasilla Highway in the Mat-Su got 3.2 inches.

Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.

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