Icy Mess In Alaska

Thanks to ABC 33/40 Skywatcher Kristie Calvin for this image… she writes…

Hi James:

“We are having a nightmare of a winter storm here in North Pole. We have been under a Winter Storm Warning for freezing rain since 3:00 a.m. and it lasts until 6:00 p.m. tomorrow.

At 5:30 this morning the temperature was 30 degrees and it started to rain. Since we have not been above freezing since early October, every surface is well below freezing, including the roads. When the rain started, the roads quickly became covered in ice. The temperatures have stayed at 32 degrees all day.

As you may know, I teach in our local school district. By 6:30 a.m., the superintendent had decided that schools would be in session and buses would run as usual. By 7:30 a.m., buses were running off the roads and sliding into ditches. Personally, I live 4 miles from my school. It usually takes me 8 minutes to drive there. This morning, it took me 1 hour and 20 minutes. I was sliding all over the road and felt incredibly unsafe. By the time I reached school, the leadership decided to cancel classes and send kids home. It was a total mess.

This type of winter event is very rare in the Interior of Alaska. Here is an excerpt of a bulletin put out by the NWS:

AS OF 3:00 PM AKST 0.29 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN AT THE
FAIRBANKS AIRPORT, THE GREATEST SINGLE DAY WINTER RAIN IN
FAIRBANKS SINCE JANUARY 20, 1963 AND THE GREATEST NOVEMBER
RAIN SINCE NOVEMBER 24, 1936. WITH ANOTHER 0.05 INCHES OF
RAIN, THIS WILL BECOME THE 4TH GREATEST WINTER RAINFALL OF
RECORD.

By this weekend, we should see high temperatures around 15 below zero. Our snow pack is melting from the freezing rain. I can only imagine that everything will be about 6 inches of ice by the weekend. This should make for a very interesting Thanksgiving!

I hope you have much better weather in Alabama. We wish we were there!”

Tags: alaska, ice

Category: Pictures