After a brief arctic cold snap Friday morning through Saturday morning, where lows will drop into the single digits with some scattered subzero temps, attention turns to a potentially significant winter storm currently projected to impact the Interior beginning late Sunday night/early Monday morning and into the middle of the week. Potential Weather Impacts include: * Significant accumulations of snowfall (greater than 6 inches) are likely across a wide swath of the Interior. Higher elevation Interior locations could see upwards of 12 to 18 inches of snow. This snow will also be moisture laden and likely a dense snow, which may exacerbate snow removal and travel in heavy snow. * Mixed rain/snow is also possible during this storm event late Monday morning and into Monday afternoon, especially in the Tanana Valley and near the Alaska Range, where it may even turn to all rain at times. * There is moderate confidence in gusty winds causing blowing and drifting snow along with reduced visibility, mainly at higher elevations such as the Steese, Elliott, and Dalton Highway Summits. In addition, south wind gusts to 55 mph are likely through the Alaska Range Passes. * Significant travel delays are possible, as heavy snow, blowing snow, or even rain on cold-soaked roadways may create extremely hazardous and difficult travel conditions. Bottom line, this storm is expected to be a significant early season storm. It will likely come in stages, and will last into the middle of the week. It should be noted that light snow will impact the Interior as early as Saturday evening into Sunday afternoon, but this snowfall will be light and will precede the much stronger front Sunday night and Monday. There are still some uncertainties with this storm, so residents should remain vigilant to upcoming forecasts, as details will change/be added as the storm approaches.
