As record snow departs, bitter cold makes a return to Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - December has been one for the books and we’re only halfway through the month. Following several bouts of record snow, a quieter and colder weather pattern is set to emerge. The final snow showers are exiting Southcentral, with many locations seeing anywhere from half a foot to just over a foot of snowfall. That brings the storm total for just this week in many spots well over 2 feet. Thankfully, we’ll have a nice stretch of sunny, dry and cold weather to help us find our footing once again.

Multiple roads, sidewalks and any navigable areas remain snow-covered. It will take at least into the first part of the weekend for any significant improvements across much of Southcentral. Remember to use caution on roads, watch out for pedestrians and drive slowly. The posted speed limit is for ideal conditions and with the amount of snow that we’ve seen you’ll want to cut that speed in half or even more.

With snow exiting the region and the final remnants of rain and wintry mix falling across Southeast, what can be expected in the days ahead? There’s good news and bitter cold news. The good news is that snow doesn’t make an appearance in the next seven days, with sunshine expected to greet many across Alaska. A ridge of high pressure will influence our weather over the next week or so, leading to daily highs falling down into the single digits and at least four to seven consecutive mornings of subzero lows. It’s possible that our coldest morning will occur Monday, with many inland areas across Southcentral seeing overnight lows from -5 to -15 degrees.

Southeast will also see the return to single-digit lows and subzero values, both of which are extremely hard for Southeast to see this early in the season. The last time Juneau saw a single-digit high in December was in 2007.

Stay warm and safe as we dig out from the record snow!

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