Anchorage area gets first significant snowfall of the season

The Anchorage area was hit with the heaviest snowfall of the season on Sunday morning, with several inches blanketing the area and leaving many roads and streets icy. The snow had mostly tapered off by early evening.

Just over 6 inches of snow had fallen by late afternoon at the National Weather Service headquarters on Sand Lake Road near Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. That broke the Nov. 5 record of 3.8 inches set in 1964, said Michael Kutz of the National Weather Service.

Accumulations reported on the weather service varied around town from between 3 inches to more than 8 inches.

“There might be some intermittent snow off and on throughout tonight,” said meteorologist Kenna Mitchell.

Another half-inch of snow is forecast for Monday. The rest of the week was expected to see flurries with no significant additional accumulation.

From Wednesday on, meteorologists expected mixed rain and snow in the Anchorage area.

“It’ll cool back down for the weekend, and it will snow again,” Kutz said.

While the first snowfall hit Southcentral Alaska on 0ct. 11, Sunday’s snowfall was the first significant snowfall of the season.

North of Anchorage and across the eastern Kenai Peninsula, the precipitation started as rain on Sunday and later turned into snow, according to the weather service. Light snow was forecast to linger in those areas throughout the week, with potentially higher snow accumulation along the western Kenai and Kachemak Bay coasts.