Spring snow falls on Anchorage, with more on the way

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Raaf Bailey, 6, who is experiencing snow for the first-time since moving to Anchorage from Sydney, Australia, had a snowball fight with his mother Susannah Bailey in several inches of fresh spring snow at the Glen Alps Trailhead in the Chugach State Park on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Bill Roth / ADN)

An April storm dumped snow on the Anchorage Hillside on Wednesday, but the rest of town wasn’t expected to see much accumulation — yet, according to the National Weather Service.

Most areas of the Anchorage Bowl had received only a trace of snow mixed with rain as of about 4 p.m., said Louise Fode, a warning meteorologist with the Anchorage office of the NWS.

Higher elevations receive much more: Forecasters received reports of 10 inches to a foot of snow falling at the Glen Alps parking lot, according to Fode.

Despite heavier flakes beginning to fall in Anchorage in the late afternoon, little accumulation was expected overnight.

“The roads and surfaces have warmed up. So people are not seeing as much accumulation on the roads,” Fode said. “Some places people seeing it on the grass.”

More snow fell in the Matanuska Valley, Fode said. People in Chickaloon reported 6-8 inches, Fodew said.

There’s also a likelihood of snowfall on Thursday night and on Friday, Fode said.

However unwelcome, snow in April — and even May — is hardly unheard of in the Anchorage area.

In 2015, it snowed as late as April 20, according to weather service records. And in 2013, the city registered “greater than a trace” of snowfall on May 18.