Heavy Snow in Alaska, December 15, 1998

Name: Heavy Snow in Alaska, December 15, 1998
Start: 1998-12-15T05:00
End: 1998-12-15T20:30
Location: Alaska

December 15, 1998 · NWS AFC · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

and at the Anchorage International Airport just after 1am Tuesday. Total snowfall around the Anchorage area ranged from 7 inches at the Sand Lake facility to 10 inches along the hillside.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS AFC wrote it up.

Snow began late Monday evening along the Upper Anchorage Hillside and areas near Turnagain Arm...and at the Anchorage International Airport just after 1am Tuesday. Snow ended from west to east...at the Anchorage International Airport at 4am Wednesday and across the rest of the area during the next 6 hours.Total snowfall around the Anchorage area ranged from 7 inches at the Sand Lake facility to 10 inches along the hillside. In Eagle River, amounts up to 15 inches were reported. Further north, around Palmer, 7-10 inches fell in the core area, 10-12 inches on Knik River Road and other areas just outside of Palmer, with 6-7 inches reported from Big Lake northward.

Event by event

2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Cook Inlet

When: December 15, 5:00 AM AST to 8:30 PM AST
Where: Cook Inlet forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

Heavy Snow, Susitna Valley

When: December 15, 5:00 AM AST to 8:30 PM AST
Where: Susitna Valley forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 1998 Every state in 1998 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, December 1998

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5670601, 5670602.