May 7, 2024

Snowpocalypse Now: Anchorage Smashes Snowfall Records

Satellite view around Anchorage, Alaska, recorded by NASAs Aqua satellite on October 26, 2023.
Satellite view around Anchorage, Alaska, captured by NASAs Aqua satellite on November 19, 2023.
The Alaskan city of Anchorage got record snowfall in November 2023.
Winter weather condition arrived in force in Southcentral Alaska in 2023. Anchorage logged its snowiest November since recordkeeping began in 1953– and it reached that mark simply over midway through the month. In addition, a nearby mountain pass came close to the national record for 24-hour snowfall.
Satellite Images Show Drastic Changes
The images above capture the shift to winter in and around Alaskas most populated city. They were gotten by the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASAs Aqua satellite on October 26 (upper), before any considerable snow had fallen in Anchorage, and November 19 (lower), two days after enough snow accumulated to set a brand-new monthly record there. At that point, ground-based measurements at the National Weather Service Anchorage workplace had tape-recorded 39.1 inches (993 millimeters) of snowfall in November, topping the previous record of 38.8 inches (985 millimeters) from 1994.
Intense Snowstorms and Their Impact
Much of the snow– about 20 inches (500 millimeters)– fell throughout a storm lasting from November 8– 10. New everyday snowfall records for November 8 and 9 were set throughout that storm.

Extreme Snowfall in Mountainous Regions
Thompson Pass in the Chugach Mountains, about 140 miles (220 kilometers) east of Anchorage, supposedly got 72 inches (1.8 meters) of new snow on November 8. That overall, determined in one of the snowiest places in the state, approached the century-old U.S. record for snowfall in a 24-hour duration.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Wanmei Liang, utilizing MODIS information from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview.

Anchorage logged its snowiest November considering that recordkeeping began in 1953– and it reached that mark just over halfway through the month. They were gotten by the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASAs Aqua satellite on October 26 (upper), before any substantial snow had actually fallen in Anchorage, and November 19 (lower), two days after sufficient snow accumulated to set a brand-new monthly record there. At that point, ground-based measurements at the National Weather Service Anchorage workplace had actually taped 39.1 inches (993 millimeters) of snowfall in November, topping the previous record of 38.8 inches (985 millimeters) from 1994.
Thompson Pass in the Chugach Mountains, about 140 miles (220 kilometers) east of Anchorage, apparently got 72 inches (1.8 meters) of new snow on November 8.