Heavy Snow in Alaska, January 16 to 19, 2005

A major overrunning precipitation event took place in Southeast Alaska during this time. In response to a low pressure system approaching the Panhandle from the southwest, an arctic front moved down through Lynn Canal on Saturday the 15th. This front ultimately stalled near a Cape Spencer-Petersburg-Hyder line. The flow aloft turned southerly and spread deep low level moisture up over this dome of arctic air in a classic overrunning pattern. The initial shot of heavy precipitation combined with the long duration overrunning, and resulted in a major winter storm in Southeast Alaska.Heavy snow occurred in the Stephens Passage, Icy Strait, Lynn Canal, and Misty Fjords regions#as well as along the Northeast Gulf Coast during this 3-day event. In Juneau, it was the first time that snowfall amounts greater than four inches occurred on four consecutive calendar days. Snow was reported in 90 out of 94 consecutive hourly observations at the Juneau Airport. There were numerous impacts due to this overrunning event, though things were minimized in part because the event began on a Sunday and continued through the Martin Luther King Holiday. In Juneau, heavy snowfall was the main story. There was damage to trees and roofs due to snow loads approaching three feet. A roof on an old building in downtown Juneau collapsed, and ruptured an oil line causing 600-650 gallons of home heating oil to drain into Gastineau Channel. At least 16 traffic accidents were reported in the Juneau area, fortunately none resulting in serious injuries. Only 13 of 45 Alaska Airline flights in and out of Juneau were cancelled during this time thanks to the recently installed Capstone GPS navigation equipment. Road crews were able to keep most major arteries cleared, but berms on sidewalks began approaching five feet in height. This forced pedestrians and school children into the streets. This was a major reason all Juneau schools, city, and federal offices were forced closed on Wednesday January 19. This was only the second "snow day" (January 8 1999) to occur in the Juneau school district since the early 1990s. Here are some of the storm total snowfall amounts measured during this event: Juneau airport 30", WFO Juneau 35", downtown Juneau 21", Auke Bay 35", Annex Creek 45", Canyon Island 30", Snettisham Power Plant 48", Eagle Crest Ski Resort 21", Yakutat 10", Skagway 2", Haines 15", Gustavus 26", Pelican 19", Elfin Cove 26", Sitka 0" (all rain), Port Alexander 5", Petersburg 2", and Hyder 14".