2013 Clean Air Challenge a Success Despite the Elements

Snow is something we almost never see on May 18, even in Alaska. But it’s what Mother Nature gave riders in this year’s Clean Air Challenge. Read More »

Never Ending Winter

Just when it looked as if spring had finally arrived over much of Alaska Old Man Winter decides to make another comeback. The weather is going to be downright interesting Friday through Saturday morning for south central Alaska. So here is a currently timeline of how I think things will progress with this system in south central. Read More »

National Weather Service Staffers Face Furloughs

Just as the nation heads into the height of severe storm and hurricane season, staffers with the National Weather Service will be furloughed. This includes more than 200 employees right here in Alaska. Read More »

February In April Continues

Last winter may have been snowier than this one, but we still have more snow on the ground right now in Anchorage than we did this time last year. As of today we had 17’’ of snow still on the ground at the National Weather Service Office at Sand Lake. On this same date last year we had 11’’ of snow on the ground. There are two reasons why we have more snow on the ground right now and they are pretty obvious. The first was we’ve had more snow this April than last April. 14.7’’ versus 5.1’’. The bigger difference though is that since our last snow high pressure has parked itself over the western half of the state. This has kept much of the state dry and colder than normal. Read More »

New Weather Forecasting Technology Being Installed

Forecasting the weather is always tricky business in Alaska, but a powerful new tool is making it a little easier. Read More »

March 2013 Climate Numbers

March 2013 climate numbers for Anchorage, Annette, Barrow, Bethel, Cold Bay, Fairbanks, Juneau, King Salmon, Kodiak, Kotzebue, McGrath, Nome, St. Paul, Valdez, & Yakutat. These numbers were compiled from data from the National Weather Service. You will notice from the numbers that most of the state experience below normal temps for March. Snowfall was much more variable around the state. In south central we saw above normal snowfall. That was also the case in the Interior, North Slope, and a few spots in western Alaska. Parts of western Alaska also saw below normal snowfall. The southeast also saw below normal snowfall. Read More »

2013 February Climate Numbers

February 2013 climate numbers for Anchorage, Annette, Barrow, Bethel, Cold Bay, Fairbanks, Juneau, King Salmon, Kodiak, Kotzebue, McGrath, Nome, St. Paul, Valdez, & Yakutat. These numbers were compiled from data from the National Weather Service. You will notice from the numbers that the western half of the state saw below normal temps while the eastern half experience above normal temps. Snowfall was above normal for the North Slope and a large swath from the Pribilofs and Bristol Bay across the northern half of the Gulf of Alaska to the Alcan border. Below normal snowfall was found in the southeast and the northwest parts of the state. Read More »

January 2013 Climate Numbers

January 2013 climate numbers for Anchorage, Annette, Barrow, Bethel, Cold Bay, Fairbanks, Juneau, King Salmon, Kodiak, Kotzebue, McGrath, Nome, St. Paul, Valdez, & Yakutat. These numbers were compiled from data from the National Weather Service. You will notice from the numbers that the entire state saw above normal temperatures the first month of the year. Snowfall was above normal for much of the western half of the state and below normal for the eastern half of the state. Read More »

Snow Returning? Maybe.

Well it seems things may finally be getting back on track as far as winter weather in Anchorage. We will continue to see a southeast onshore flow through Thursday so we will stay dry in Anchorage, the Matanuska Valley, and most of the western Kenai Peninsula. That will also mean continued rain and snow for the eastern Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound. But Friday things get interesting. Weather models are showing a system somewhat similar to last weeks system that dropped 3 to 12 inches of snow over parts of south central developing. Right now I’m leaning on the conservative side of things Read More »

Holiday Weekend Forecast

Quite the snow storm that moved into south central the past 24 hours. Outside of Valdez the highest amounts of snow were found in a narrow band from Kasilof to the south to the Matanuska Valley in the north. Snow totals in this band ranged from about 3’’ to 12’’. This snow was associated with an upper level disturbance that just parked itself right over the region. What looked like it was going to be a small snowfall turned into a pretty big one for some of us. This was a really dry snow though. Read More »

Flooding In January?!?

So why might we see flooding this weekend? In January?!?! In Alaska?!?! Well it's a combination of things. The first being extremely warm and moist air heading into south central Alaska this weekend. This moisture is streaming all the way up from the tropics. In the Anchorage Bowl we could see up to 1.5'' of rain Sunday. Areas of the Prince William Sound could see up to 6'' of rain Sunday. So obviously a lot of moisture heading our way. It's not totally unheard of to see rain totals like this in south central. Read More »

December 2012 Climate Numbers For Alaska

December 2012 climate numbers for Anchorage, Annette, Barrow, Bethel, Cold Bay, Fairbanks, Juneau, King Salmon, Kodiak, Kotzebue, McGrath, Nome, St. Paul, Valdez, & Yakutat. These numbers were compiled from data from the National Weather Service. You will notice from the numbers that the entire state saw below normal temperatures even with the big warm up the last few days of 2012 over southern Alaska. Snowfall was a little more variable around Alaska. A large chunk of the state saw above normal snowfall. The exceptions were the extreme northwestern part of the state. And there was also a swath of below normal snow that stretched from St. Paul eastward to Valdez and Yakutat. Read More »

Snow Returns to South Central

So we will see a big change in the weather pattern this weekend and into next week for much of the southern half of the state. This weekends storm will be the biggest one we have seen in quite some time over the southwest and south central parts of the state. I’ll start off in south central. This system is going to bring some major snow and wind to the Prince William Sound and eastern side of the Kenai Peninsula. The onshore flow in the region when the brunt of this storm hits on Saturday and Saturday night will be out of the southeast. That will put the Matanuska Valley, Anchorage Bowl, & western Kenai Peninsula in the rain/snow shadow of the system. Read More »

November 2012 Climate Numbers

November 2012 climate numbers for Anchorage, Annette, Barrow, Bethel, Cold Bay, Fairbanks, Juneau, King Salmon, Kodiak, Kotzebue, McGrath, Nome, St. Paul, Valdez, & Yakutat. These numbers were compiled from data from the National Weather Service. You will notice from the numbers that the bulk of the state saw below normal temperatures and below normal precipitation. However on the North Slope and into parts of the southeast temperatures and precipitation were above normal. Read More »

Current Weather Warnings, Watches, & Advisories for Alaska

This is a list of all the current weather warnings, watches, & advisories in Alaska. The were issued by the National Weather Service offices in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau. Read More »

First Big Snow Of The Season?

It doesn’t look that way. It looks like mother nature is teasing all of us snow lovers again by giving us a little snow in south central, but not the first big one. In Anchorage we will likely only end up with another 1’’ to 3’’ of snow by the time this system moves out late Thursday. It doesn’t look like the big one will be coming later this week either. But we will see some big weather changes towards the weekend. Enjoy the 20 to 30 degree readings the next two days. We are in for a BIG cool down by the weekend. Read More »

Current Weather Warnings, Watches, & Advisories For Alaska

These weather warnings, watches, and advisories have been issued by the National Weather Service offices in Anchorage, Fairbanks, & Juneau. Read More »

Current Warnings, Watches, & Advisories Around Alaska

These warnings and watches have been issued by the National Weather Service Offices in Fairbanks and Anchorage. Read More »

Current Warnings, Watches, & Advisories For Alaska

Current warnings, watches, and advisories in effect for Alaska issued by the National Weather Service offices in Fairbanks and Anchorage. Read More »

Alaska Annual Snowfall From 1981-2010

These numbers are courtesy the National Weather Service and weather spotters from around Alaska. Any spots around Alaska surprise you? Read More »

October 2012 Climate Numbers

October 2012 climate numbers for Anchorage, Annette, Barrow, Bethel, Cold Bay, Fairbanks, Juneau, King Salmon, Kodiak, Kotzebue, McGrath, Nome, St. Paul, Valdez, & Yakutat. These numbers were compiled from data from the National Weather Service. Read More »

Why Has Air Quality Been Deteriorating?

A downside to prolonged high pressure this time of year is that it often affects air quality. The air doesn’t mix as much with high pressure. We often refer to high pressure as a “dome” of high pressure. It basically acts like a lid on a pot and traps the air in place. With more pollutants in the air this time of year from things like wood burning stoves and people warming up their cars the air can get dirtier faster when high pressure is in place. The air quality in Anchorage has diminished the past few days into the moderate category. Read More »

Someone Call Foreigner. It's Cold As Ice!

We are in for a very stagnant weather pattern for most of Alaska for at least the next week. A blocking high has set up shop over the western half of the state. This is accounting for the clear and cold weather much of the state is experiencing. The weather models over the next 7 days are not showing that this high will be budging anytime soon. The negative of this will be that the below normal temperatures are here to stay for the the next week. Another downside to prolonged high pressure this time of year is that it often affects air quality. The air doesn’t mix as much with high pressure. We often refer to high pressure as a “dome” of high pressure. Read More »

Weekend Rain & Snow To End Dry Spell

Three days of sun has been such a pleasure here in the Southcentral after a rough September and even a wet start to October. We have had the pleasure of being graced by a ridge of high pressure that took over most of the state. As we head into the weekend things start to change as potential storms move inland. Read More »

The Wait Is Over For Sunshine

The ridge of high pressure is strong enough to not allow storms to pass it, which will keep us under a blocking effect for the next couple of days. Storms will have a hard time passing this ridge as it continues to move in even more Tuesday into Wednesday afternoon. Read More »

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