Anchorage’s low-snow December makes for idle plows and happy skaters

A year ago, December brought a deluge of snow as storms inundated road crews, overloaded roofs and dumped powder in the mountains.

What a difference a year makes.

This December is nearly snow-free, cloaking the city in a grimy crust through the darkest days of the year.

Anchorage barely got 2 inches of snow this December, putting it among the city’s lowest recorded totals.

And the near-term forecast isn’t promising: “For those hoping for snow in Anchorage, prepare to remain underwhelmed,” a National Weather Service analysis warned this week.

The agency still measures 8 inches of snow on the ground at its headquarters near Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, but much of that accumulation came in the weeks before the last month of the year, including a late October storm that dropped upwards of a foot or more on parts of the city.

The weather service has measured 1.9 inches of snow in December as of Tuesday, tying the amount recorded in 1982 and just over the 1.4 inches registered in 1980 and 2015, according to agency data.

Snow in Anchorage is a boom-bust proposition, said meteorologist Michael Kutz. This season is light so far. Last season was the second snowiest on record. The winter of 2011-12 set the record for the city’s snowiest. A few winters later, Kutz said, “we dropped down to minimum snow.”

Colder air is “sagging” over mainland Alaska, he said. “Which basically is just like a brick wall. All the lows come up close, it’ll rain or snow closer to the coast, but it won’t give us much of anything.”

Last year by this time, a heavy snow load had already led to several commercial roof failures and clogged roads and sidewalks in the city as crews struggled to keep up.

This year, snow load is not a problem.

One Anchorage-based snow removal contractor posted a nod to the lack of precipitation on social media last week: “1.9 inches so far for December ....” followed by emojis of a snowflake, eyes, and heavy equipment. “*Sips hot chocolate* Back in my day it used to snow in December.”

A matter-of-fact message greets anyone looking for updates on the city’s snowplow information page: “Municipal crews will continue routine winter maintenance until the next plow-out is declared.”

Most of Southcentral Alaska’s ski areas are operating, but with varying amounts of terrain open.

Alyeska Resort was reporting 2 inches of snow at the base and 68 inches at the top. Hilltop Ski Area in Far North Bicentennial Park was operating with four trails as well as terrain parks open. Skeetawk in Hatcher Pass near Palmer opened Sunday for season pass holders and lessons only with limited terrain and thin cover given the “extremely delicate” snowpack.

Arctic Valley Ski Area has delayed opening “until we receive substantially more snow,” but is open for snow tubing through the holiday break.

“The low-snow year is making us be more creative,” said Jen Aschoff, an avid skier who lives in Eagle River. “So most backcountry skiers are either taking a hiatus and biking or skate-skiing, or if they’re ... diehard skiers, they are hiking their skis, they are going up high.”

Aschoff has been riding trails on the Hillside or hiking Mount Baldy near home — she recommends ice spikes — and skiing up high in Hatcher Pass or Turnagain on weekends.

Generally, she said, right now the backcountry is challenging for skiers without the advanced skills and avalanche awareness necessary to safely navigate exposed trees and slippery “dust on crust” conditions to reach the powder, she said. “It’s fast, it’s hard, it hurts if you fall.”

Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center forecasters warned of considerable danger in Turnagain into Wednesday as east winds raised the potential for slab avalanches.

Higher temperatures earlier in the month brought wind and rain that scoured lower-elevation trails, especially those without the benefit of the snow-making equipment at Kincaid Park, said Kikkan Randall, executive director of the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage.

The association is hosting the U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships at Kincaid this weekend. Crews expect to be able to maintain enough snow given the cold conditions, but Randall said organizers “knew we would risk the Nationals curse” of weather weirdness that seems to haunt communities selected to host the race.

“The previous two winters, we’ve been incredibly fortunate to have great snow in December,” she said. “We kind of knew in the back of our minds we might be due for this again.”

[Despite relatively low snow, Anchorage is ready to host U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships]

But along with fat-tire bikers, the weird weather is a boon for ice skaters overjoyed at the snow-free surfaces around the region.

Clint Helander, a 40-year-old wild ice aficionado, was about to embark on a multiday, 75-mile skating trip on the Kenai Peninsula as the month came to a close on Tuesday.

The warmup earlier in December melted the snow off lakes and rivers “like a little natural Zamboni” and left near-perfect surfaces in places as the cold returned, he said.

Helander works as an emergency room nurse in Anchorage but also runs a roof-shoveling business. The lack of snow has left him more time for the kind of backcountry ice adventures he’s spent years cultivating.

“One of the parts of being an avid Alaskan outdoorsman is you have to have an activity that you can do in any weather condition,” he said. “Whereas 20 years ago, we would just be lamenting the fact there’s no snow, now we can be excited we have this ephemeral wild ice to chase around.”