Juneau saw a snowfall record during a winter storm over the weekend, and now, freezing temperatures and clear skies are expected to stretch through most of this week.
Juneau received 13.6 inches of snow this past weekend, measured at the Juneau International Airport. The majority, 9.6 inches, fell on Saturday, Dec. 6, breaking the record for that day in history, according to the National Weather Service. The previous record for Dec. 6 was 7.2 inches, set in 1975.
“It was a fairly common setup for a heavy snow pattern in Juneau,” said Nathan Compton, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Juneau.
He said the winter storm was caused by cold, dry air flowing south from interior Canada and moving under warmer, moist air traveling north, turning what would have been rain into snow.
“That cold air came down from Lynn Canal and just undercut everything,” he said. “Right when that happens, that’s when we get the maximum lift. And so on Saturday, that’s why we got those very, very, very heavy snow rates, right at the beginning of the event.”
Elsewhere in the region, the heavy snow and wind caused the Klondike Highway to close over the weekend, and the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry M/V LeConte scheduled to leave Skagway Sunday was cancelled. That stranded the Juneau-Douglas High School Yadaa.at Kalé Nordic Ski Team in Whitehorse after a ski trip.
Abby McAllister is the lead ski coach for the team, but wasn’t on the trip. She said 16 students and their coaches stayed an extra night in their AirBnB.
They’re driving to Haines, where they’ll stay overnight at the local high school and then board the ferry M/V Columbia early Tuesday morning.
Instead of coming home Sunday night, the team is expected back Tuesday. McAllister said the kids know how to go with the flow.
“You know, it’s Alaska, and these are Alaska kids, and they’ve just been all positive with the twists and turns,” she said.
Now that the dry, cold air from the north has mostly wrung out the moist clouds hanging over Juneau, sunshine and low temperatures — ranging from the single digits to the teens — are expected to take hold through Friday.
