A winter weather advisory takes effect tonight for 6 to 11 inches of snow, with most of it expected overnight into Thursday. The National Weather Service expects roads, and especially bridges and overpasses, to turn slick and hazardous.
Snow Totals and Timing
NWS Fairbanks issued a winter weather advisory at 4:33 p.m. ET Tuesday, calling for 6 to 11 inches of snow across the Eastern Alaska Range, both north and south of Trims Camp. It covers Black Rapids, Donnelly Dome and Trims Camp, along with the Richardson Highway from mile post 202 to mile post 259, and runs from 8 p.m. ET Wednesday to 2 a.m. ET Friday.
The office expects snow to melt at first on Wednesday afternoon, then begin building quickly overnight as temperatures drop below freezing and moderate to heavy snow sets in, at rates of half an inch to an inch an hour from Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Most of it should fall between mile post 205 and mile post 235.
The NWS point forecast for the area 10 miles south of Donnelly, updated at 2:17 a.m. ET Wednesday, breaks the snow down by period. It calls for 1 to 2 inches on Wednesday, then 3 to 5 inches Wednesday night and another 3 to 5 inches on Thursday, with 1 to 3 inches more Thursday night. Lows fall to 21 to 25 degrees, and winds stay light at around 5 mph. A chance of snow lingers into Friday and the weekend before rain mixes back in on Sunday.
The National Weather Service’s digital forecast of total new snow through early Friday puts the heaviest amounts in the higher terrain of the Alaska Range above the highway, in the 14- to 20-inch range. The same map shows up to about 30 inches in the Chugach Mountains near Valdez and along parts of the southeast coast, although those areas sit outside the advisory.
A day before the advisory, Alaska’s News Source meteorologist Aaron Morrison had focused on Isabel Pass on the Richardson in his Tuesday forecast.
“Up to 6 inches of snow will be possible through Isabel Pass.”
This is not the first time the same stretch has been under an advisory this season. NWS Fairbanks issued one for the Eastern Alaska Range at the end of August, when Autoblog reported up to 8 inches and gusts near 40 mph along the Richardson near Isabel Pass. This one covers the same mile posts and calls for up to 11 inches.
Road Conditions
NWS Fairbanks says travel “could be very difficult to impossible” during the advisory and tells drivers to slow down. The state’s road reports are posted at 511.alaska.gov, and the same information is available by calling 511.
Under Alaska law, studded tires have been allowed north of the 60th parallel since Sept. 16, according to the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. Passenger vehicles on this section of the Richardson can already use them. State regulations also allow tire chains whenever snow or ice makes skidding likely, at any time of year.
