Anchorage broke its January snowfall record Tuesday as another winter storm dropped more than 10 inches of snow on the city, disrupting commutes and prompting officials to adjust school schedules. The National Weather Service office in West Anchorage measured 10.6 inches of new snow by 3 p.m., pushing the month’s total to 39.7 inches—its highest January figure on record.
Climate researcher Brian Brettschneider, a National Weather Service climate researcher, said the depth of snowfall has also come with unusual precipitation amounts for the season. He said the precipitation Anchorage has received in January matches what the region typically gets from January 1 through about May 10, and he noted there have been years in which the city did not see that much precipitation even through the end of June.
Brettschneider said January is not normally the snowiest month for Anchorage, with December typically holding that distinction, but that warming has made snowier Januaries more likely. He attributed the shift to January temperatures warming by “5 or 6 degrees,” saying that higher temperatures make it easier for the atmosphere to produce more moisture in January rather than limiting snowfall.
Forecasters warned that conditions could worsen for drivers, particularly during the evening commute. The Anchorage School District sent students home early Tuesday, with the exception of students in Girdwood, and canceled all after-school programs, as parents watched for potential closure updates for Wednesday.
As the storm moved through, the Anchorage Police Department reported 99 vehicles in distress—sometimes called “ditch divers”—and 36 collisions as of about 4 p.m. Tuesday, including 12 collisions with injuries. Police spokesman Adam Nicely urged drivers to slow down and maintain safe distances, saying people leaving at the end of the workday should “take the time to get home safely” and account for changing braking and road conditions.
City plow crews worked around the clock, clearing main roads first before moving to residential areas, according to Kenny Friendly, a spokesman for Anchorage’s plowing operations. Friendly said clearing all of the city’s main thoroughfares would likely take up to 12 hours after the snow ended, and he said residents should be patient as crews addressed calls for service.
Friendly said some calls for service would be forwarded to state officials because state plow trucks handle state-maintained roadways in Anchorage. For residents tracking snow-removal activity, he recommended the city’s plow tracker, which displays the trucks’ positions by GPS and their “uplifting names,” including ones such as “Bladey Gaga,” “The Berminator,” and “Slick Sleddin’.”
Friendly said crews had finished clearing Anchorage streets after the last major snowfall before this latest round arrived. He added that after the storm ends, the month’s record total could still, in theory, rise before January ends, but that the latest system was expected to peter out without adding much more snowfall. Brettschneider said: “After we stop snowing during this event, we probably won’t add anything to it before the calendar changes.”