“A lot of the houses here are double-wide trailers, so they were really rocking,” said False Pass School Principal Ward Walker. “Even the well-built school here was shaking. We had 55-gallon drums, crates and sheet metal blowing throughout the village.”
A high wind warning remains in effect for the Pribilof Islands and the Kuskokwim Delta and Bristol Bay regions, with wind gusts from the south approaching 75 mph. Winds will subside Thursday night.
Snow over Southwestern Alaska mixed with or changed to rain overnight as warmer air made its move northward. However, precipitation remained as all snow north of Bethel. Thus, a winter storm warning is in effect from the Lower Yukon River north to Point Hope. Snow totals will range from 2 to 8 inches.
The frontal boundary ahead of the storm’s central circulation propagated into Southcentral last night, bringing periods of heavy snow and strong winds. So far, winds have gusted to near 60 mph in Palmer, 90 mph in Anchorage’s Upper Hillside and along Turnagain Arm, with lighter 30-60 mph wind gusts for the rest of Anchorage. A high wind warning continues for the higher elevations of Anchorage, Turnagain Arm, and Portage Valley.
In addition, heavy snow has fallen in the city of Kenai and for much of the Cook Inlet region. Snow and rain will plague Prince William Sound and the eastern Kenai Peninsula through Friday with heavy snow for the mountains. There is a winter storm warning for heavy snow along and west of the Susitna Valley. Snow totals of 10 to 20 inches are likely, with some locations near the Alaskan Range piling up nearly two feet.
Showers will continue tomorrow but the winds will diminish to less than 50 mph. The forecast looks better for the weekend. Showers will linger Saturday morning in Anchorage, and then partial sunshine is back by Sunday. The threat for rain will remain from Prince William Sound, east into the SE Panhandle through the weekend.
Channel 2 Weather Team’s Facebook friends have been chiming in with weather reports from all over the state. Here are some of the highlights:
Sheri Liebenthal: Ninilchik 30 degrees 4+ inches of snow and still falling No wind.
Lynne Schlumpf: Sounds like a small hurricane in Chugiak. This strange roar. Rain, trees swaying big time. The roar is getting louder.
Robbie Pull: Fierce winds and blowing snow in the Eagle River Valley. Glad it's not trash day!
Cheryl Golling Johnson: I own The Perfect Grind espresso drive thru kiosk on Spenard and a HUGE gust of wind hit us about an hour ago and shattered two of my windows!
Jim Novak: No wind here in Sutton but there's at least 4" of snow out there and still coming down. Poor visibility.
Melinda Cornwell: It's snowing, but nary a breeze on Lazy Mountain
Peter Katinszky It's setting off house alarms on the lower hillside.
Renee Cousson Laseter We are loosing our shingles at dowling and the New Seward.
Webdy Schlosstein Smith Upper hillside. Strong winds blew one side of garage door in. Had to pull jeep up to keep it from blowing all the way in. :(
Go to the Channel 2 Weather Facebook page and tell us what the weather is like where you are.
