Solstice arrives with fresh snow across Southcentral Alaska

The shortest day of the year arrived Tuesday with piles of fresh snow throughout Southcentral Alaska.

A storm system on Monday covered much of the region in snow and a small amount of freezing rain around Anchorage. The storm ended by Tuesday morning, but National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Wegman warned that slick roads could continue to make driving a challenge.

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities classified driving conditions around and north of Anchorage as difficult for most of Tuesday and reported ice and packed snow on many roadways. The Seward Highway had blowing snow with snow on the roadway south of Mile 44, near the Sterling Highway exit.

A spokeswoman for the Anchorage Police Department said seven crashes with injuries were reported Monday, 24 crashes without injuries and 36 “vehicles in distress.”

Schools are closed for the holidays.

The storm brought between 6 and 8 inches of new snow to Palmer, roughly 6.7 inches in Wasilla, and between 6 and 7.5 inches in Eagle River. Snow accumulations in Anchorage ranged from 2.5 inches to 4.5 inches by Monday night.

The snow arrived in time for the winter solstice — the shortest day of the year, but also a sign that longer daylight hours will start to return.

The sun rose at 10:14 a.m. Tuesday and set at 3:41 p.m., giving Anchorage 5 hours, 27 minutes and 45 seconds of daylight, Wegman said.

By Wednesday, Anchorage will gain 9 seconds of daylight, 21 seconds the following day and by New Year’s Day there will be over 2 minutes of additional daylight per day. The light gain continues until summer solstice in June.

The actual time of solstice was 6:59 a.m., Wegman said. That marks the minute that the Northern Hemisphere is tilted farthest away from the sun and is no longer losing daylight.

Daylight totals on Tuesday varied across the state, with 3 hours and 41 minutes in Fairbanks and no true daylight anywhere north of the Arctic Circle.

“Just because the sun doesn’t rise that doesn’t mean they don’t get an hour or two of twilight,” Wegman said. “It’s a common misconception that 24 hours of night means 24 hours of total black, but really what it means is that the sun doesn’t get above the horizon.”