Freezing rain and snow possible for Anchorage and Mat-Su

The last few weeks of little precipitation and mostly clear roads is coming to an end for Southcentral Alaska, with freezing rain or rain in the forecast by Friday and snow possible by Sunday.

Rain was expected to begin falling late Thursday and continue until around 7 a.m. Friday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Ottenweller. As it falls, the rain will likely freeze, creating an icy glaze over roadways, he said.

Conditions are expected to be slickest in East Anchorage, on the Glenn Highway near the Palmer Hay Flats and from Meadow Lake to Point MacKenzie, the agency said in a special weather statement issued Thursday.

Only light precipitation is expected to fall in most of Anchorage and it may be similar to a light glaze of ice reported in parts of the city Sunday morning, Ottenweller said.

As of Thursday afternoon, the forecast was calling for a light glaze of ice in Anchorage and the Matanuska Valley, with rain falling on below-freezing ground Thursday night into Friday morning.

Higher amounts of ice could accumulate in the Susitna Valley, with up to two-tenths of an inch possible from Mile 60 of the Parks Highway to Talkeetna, according to a winter weather advisory issued for the area from 1 a.m. until midafternoon Friday. Additional freezing rain is possible Friday into Saturday, forecasters say.

Forecasters say a new pattern of colder weather is coming, bringing the probability of snow for much of Southcentral by Sunday.

Ottenweller said specific predictions are still coming together as the weekend gets closer. The amount of snow expected to fall depends on how fast cold air moves in, but early prediction models on Thursday were calling for at least 2 inches for most areas around Cook Inlet and Mat-Su.