Anchorage, Alaska Snow Record Broken With Spring Snowfall

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A spring snowfall has broken the nearly 60-year-old seasonal snow record of Alaska's largest city.

Inundated with nearly double the snow they're used to, Anchorage residents have been expecting to see this season's snowfall surpass the record of 132.6 inches set in the winter of 1954-55.

The 3.4 inches that fell by Saturday afternoon brings the total to 133.6 inches. National Weather Service meteorologist Shaun Baines said forecasters don't expect more than an inch of additional accumulation.

Before a dumping of wet snow Friday, none had fallen since mid-March, and the seasonal measure hovered at 129.4 inches, or nearly 11 feet. The halt gave residents a chance to clear their snow-laden roofs and city crews an opportunity to widen streets squeezed by mountains of snow.

Extreme weather has hit not only Alaska. It's also struck the lower 48, where the first three months of 2012 has seen twice the normal number of tornadoes and one of the warmest winters on record.

Two different weather phenomena — La Nina and its northern cousin the Arctic Oscillation — are mostly to blame, meteorologists say. Global warming could also be a factor because it is supposed to increase weather extremes, according to climate scientists.

Even by Alaska standards, Anchorage has been walloped by snow. City snow removal crews have worked around the clock to clear roadways and haul more than 2.5 million cubic yards of snow to the city's six snow disposal sites, which are close to capacity. Maintenance and operations director Alan Czajkowski says that volume would almost fill the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.

That's not even counting the loads disposed of by state crews.

At the height of the snow overload, many residential streets were rimmed by snow-walled canyons that towered over fences and shielded homes. Some roofs collapsed, mostly on older commercial buildings with flat roofs.

The collapses caught the attention of many residents worried the same thing would happen to their roofs, a concern that turned into booming business for commercial snow removal outfits.

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Comments

[oldwolf49]

12:23 AM on 04/11/2012

Moose, good when served with greens and potatoes.

[Boomerwoman]

11:31 PM on 04/10/2012

Um, why would you have a flat roof in Alaska? Just does not make sense to me.

[oldwolf49]

12:23 AM on 04/11/2012

Never understood it either but there are a few.

[oldwolf49]

02:54 AM on 04/10/2012

When I lived in Kenai, AK the first year '99, was HEAVY with snow, then the next 6 years after it became lighter and lighter, cold as crap most years but snow was light. Last 2 years I looked and it has gotten bad again. Climate change..........

[Jamzhelm]

04:01 PM on 04/09/2012

Woohoo! Global Warming!

I need to buy stock in short shorts and bikinis!

/half-assed sarcasm

[Kassandra]

07:54 PM on 04/08/2012

By the time we get around to living the full effects of man-made climate change, it'll be too late.
Dither, dither

[getoffmedz]

05:59 PM on 04/08/2012

The warmer the atmosphere the more water vapor is evaporated, the more it rains and snows. The greater the desertification in the mid-latitudes.

Easy to understand.

Except for the "deniers."

[daultman463]

06:07 PM on 04/09/2012

Please explain why there was more snowfall in 1954-55 my friend??

[oldwolf49]

02:53 AM on 04/10/2012

AAAHHHHHH CLOWN!!

[old soil guy]

05:55 PM on 04/08/2012

Whoops, wrong article for the comment.

[Moose Luck 99]

11:39 AM on 04/10/2012

Have you heard of this?

Mycorrhizae Inoculants for better plant roots and healthier plants.
www.bio-organics.com/
BioOrganics' Endo and Ecto-types of mycorrhizae inoculants are noted by the USDA to be especially beneficial for grapes, citrus, melons, oaks & pines

[old soil guy]

05:50 PM on 04/08/2012

I've got a spread sheet for power usage since I bought the place in 94. Of course costs have gone up over the years, and at times there were more family members, but I'm paying the same rate for natural gas as I was in 2010, except the delivery charge has gone up 15%, and 12% since last year. I've never seen a drop in supply rates, ever. Lucky they've stayed the same for a few years. Didn't even want to compare the elect rates.

[adika3z]

02:34 PM on 04/08/2012

why why 2 pay parking meters on this picture,
remove take it OFFFFF the stupid pay parking meter on the street,
throw away parking meter right now,
pay parking meter is a big crime, not worth it, ripoff

[20090120]

01:18 PM on 04/08/2012

AT&T: Climate change is a fact, and the scientific evidence so far seems to implicate greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, as the cause of climate change.

Bayer: The anthropogenic component of the greenhouse effect (which is adding to the natural effect) is what is changing our current climate. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased by 1/3 since pre-industrial times as a result of human activity. The anthropogenic contribution to climate change has led to a temperature increase of 0.8 °C over the last 130 years.

Chevron: Chevron shares the concerns of governments and the public about climate change and recognizes that the use of fossil fuels to meet the world’s energy needs is a contributor to an increase in greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the Earth’s atmosphere.

ConocoPhillips: ConocoPhillips recognizes that human activity, including the burning of fossil fuels, is contributing to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that can lead to adverse changes in global climate.

CSX: CSXT understands that what’s good for the environment is good for its customers, its employees and its bottom line. That’s why the company is developing long-term, comprehensive climate change strategies and is leading the way to cleaner air through increased fuel efficiency and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

ExxonMobil: Rising greenhouse-gas emissions pose significant risks to society and ecosystems.
HP: HP recognizes that climate change is one

[vakh]

05:33 PM on 04/08/2012

LOL
what a joke
Every one of those oil co. have a good stake in renewables.
Mucho subsidies.
Much highier profit than oil.
Cant lose with the Gov. guarantees.

[getoffmedz]

06:00 PM on 04/08/2012

What a joke.

Will you "deniers" every quit?

[Andrew Harvey]

03:08 AM on 04/10/2012

I thought corporations were full of lying cheating greedy people who would say anything to increase their bottom lines. Why the sudden change of heart?

[pg9769]

11:35 AM on 04/08/2012

"Global warming could also be a factor because it is supposed to increase weather extremes, according to climate scientists" - of course it does, Global Warming causes the climate to change! No matter what the change, global warming causes it. Whether its warmer, colder, more snow or less snow, lack of rain and flooding, its all caused by people like myself who refuse to drive a smart car and live out the American Dream in a pickup truck.

[Roshi98]

11:52 AM on 04/08/2012

At this point in the debate have you seriously not learned about global warming leading to more evaporation which leads to more moisture in the air leading to increasing precipitation? Are you not at all familiar with the hydrological cycle? This is grade school science we're talking about at this point yet denialists can't even wrap their heads around what every fourth grader learns.

[This American]

12:17 PM on 04/08/2012

I am 100% certain that if Anchorage had set a new low snowfall record this would also be attributed to global warming,as would absolutely any new meteorologic record of any kind that occurs anywhere.

This is not science, it is a gutter religion.

[vakh]

05:34 PM on 04/08/2012

The climate changes whether the temps. are going up or down.
It has been changing since the begining of the nearth.

[HowthCastle]

05:50 PM on 04/08/2012

Each of these changes has a cause.
And currently it is changing due to human-caused carbon dioxide.

[Son of Liberty 1765]

07:53 AM on 04/08/2012

More Global Warming, as usual. Doesn't matter if it is hot or cold, wet or dry... THe Climate would not change if it wasn't for my SUV! I must fall on my own sword and repent to the Enviro Theology Diety!

[nofriendofrepublicans]

07:59 AM on 04/08/2012

Please, do us all a favor.

[Chipher]

08:31 AM on 04/08/2012

Nam Myoho Renge Kyoto~! All them golden rice bowls gotta be filled at IPCC~!

[jimboy71]

11:24 AM on 04/08/2012

What?

[This American]

12:21 PM on 04/08/2012

Actually we help fill those rice bowls every time we start our cars. Because Avagadro's number is so gigantic (6.022 X10^23) it is absolutely certain that some of the carbon atoms in EVERY bowl of rice that is eaten today came out of the tailpipe of my car.

[LaoShur]

06:56 AM on 04/08/2012

"Global warming could also be a factor because it is supposed to increase weather extremes, according to climate scientists."

Climate scientists indeed!! I wouldn't go to a "scientist" for science anymore than I would go to a surgeon for surgery!! Faith is where I put MY money!!
And I am no fool either!! Just got a letter from my preacher who's been in Barbados for 4 weeks, and he tells me the climate is great and NEXT month he's going to tell me how the climate is in Australia!!
I can't wait for him to return so that I can invest MORE of my money in faith!!

[nofriendofrepublicans]

08:01 AM on 04/08/2012

LOL, get back to us, let us know how that worked out. ;)~

[Chipher]

08:33 AM on 04/08/2012

The majority of climate scientists say the climate in Australia is pretty good, so send in your carbon tithe-tax for their 2012 Australian Climate Conference whoo-haw~!

[jimboy71]

11:25 AM on 04/08/2012

No, they don't:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/13/australias-floods-a-glimp_n_808665.html

At least try a little harder.

[Kassandra]

07:58 PM on 04/08/2012

You obviously haven't been paying attention to the enormous wildfires they've been having there along with drought.
You obviously haven't been paying attention

[Sunwyn Ravenwood]

12:13 AM on 04/08/2012

I lived in Alaska for 5 years and it always astounded me that people there build the same kind of houses they build in places where it snows once in 3 years. For Pete's sake people try thinking ahead. The building where I lived in the winters had extremely steep roofs with wide overhangs. The snow fell off, it did not build up. (Mind, standing under the eaves would be a very bad idea.)

[roger37]

01:10 AM on 04/08/2012

Americans in general aren't known for their long-range planning ability. To put it mildly.

[hanspij]

01:24 AM on 04/08/2012

True.
Like building in tornado ally.Oh no tornado to see, so we dont need to build a shelter.Or why building stronger, there is no wind now.
And even where is no snow or wind, flat roofs are always dumb, looks ugly and give in the long run always problems.I have had 1 time a flat roof and during a refit i lifted 1 side up 10inches and and closed the gap and fixed it with the wals.Of wind to.Safed me load cash later when many other houses start getting leakage by heavy rains.I needed much less leaves removal to.

[Sunwyn Ravenwood]

01:30 AM on 04/08/2012

Let's see, how do we build a nation? Let's start with gentlemen adventurers who think work is beneath them, and religious fanatics who hate everyone else. Add in indentured servants, transported criminals, defaulting debtors, draft dodgers, smugglers, and a large helping of ladies of negotiable virtue, and shake. Then toss in a large dollop of kidnapped slaves, reformed pirates, dishonest businessmen, distressed aristocrats, political refugees, and all the flotsam and jetsam of the world's port cities. Simmer gently for 200 years, adding in dollops of everyone who didn't like it where he was and see what you get.

The American. The only person in the world who says "That's history" with contempt. Devoid alike of past and future the American exists only in the now, with no planning beyond the next election and no memory of the past. His only goal in life is the accumulation of more and more stuff.

[Alaska Resident]

02:08 AM on 04/08/2012

I've lived in Alaska since 1956, when I was 12 years old. Only older homes and buildings were flat roofed, but you don't see it in newer structures. Anchorage started as a tent city in 1915. It's a young city in comparison to cities in the lower 48 states. When they started building homes and the few buildings they started with, there weren't any building codes. People helped each other build their homes so it's not that people in Anchorage weren't planning ahead, they started right where they were, with the materials they had and back then every thing came by ship from Seattle. There wasn't any Alcan Highway built yet; there wasn't any planes then either. There were just a lot of good folks who helped each other. That's the way it was up here because survival depended on folks helping each other out. That's pretty much the way of the past now and people who come up now aren't like us old timers. We didn't even have telephones in our neighborhood until the early 1960s. In 1967 my husband and I moved to Kenai which was an oil boom town at the time. All we found to live in was a camp trailer so we made do with what was available. We didn't get a telephone until 1970. Alaska has always been a boom and bust kind of existence so if you want to survive up here, you gotta help others or you just won't make it.

[JimNast]

02:43 AM on 04/08/2012

The AlCan Highway was built during WWII and opened to the public in 1948.