Winter Weather Warning Issued as 9 Inches of Snow Expected

A winter weather advisory has been issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) for portions of interior Alaska, with forecasts predicting up to 9 inches of snowfall between Thursday afternoon and Friday evening.

The advisory affects the White Mountains, high terrain south of the Yukon River, and the Chatanika River Valley, including key stretches of the Steese and Elliott highways.

The early season storm is set to deliver moderate to heavy snow across interior Alaska, raising the risk of hazardous travel conditions. The NWS has specifically warned motorists and residents to be alert for slippery roads and reduced visibility.

The advisory comes as Alaska begins to transition into the colder months, making preparedness especially crucial for local communities and travelers on major routes.

What To Know The winter weather advisory is in effect from 2 p.m. local time Thursday until 10 p.m. Friday, according to the NWS office in Fairbanks. The agency predicts snow accumulations between 4 and 9 inches, with higher elevations receiving the most snow.

Areas most affected include the Steese Highway up to mile marker 90 and the elevated portions of the White Mountains. The snowfall is expected to begin with a weaker weather system Wednesday night, intensifying as the main storm moves in Thursday night through Friday morning.

A neighbor is still at his cabin in the interior of Alaska. I have no idea if this is near the area targeted by the storm.

He and his wife talk every day on satellite phone. It’s a nice place, but primitive. Hope he’s ok and can get out. He gets in and out by float plane (he hires the plane).

In many central and eastern states, this was an unusual September in that the second half was considerably warmer than the first half. At New York Central Park it was about 3 F deg warmer, a rise exceeded in only two other years, 1891 and 2017. Only eleven out of 156 years on record there have seen a rise in average temperature from Sep 1-15 to Sep 16-30.

But an odd thing about that is, 2017 was about the warmest October on record, so the warmth continued; but 1947 had the biggest drop in average temperature from Sep 1-15 to 16-30, and it also had a very warm October.

Some forecast models are showing October staying mostly very warm in central and eastern regions and near average in the west.

Massive blocking high pressure has forced Humberto and Imelda to stay out in the Atlantic; Imelda just scored a direct cat-1 hit on Bermuda, damage is said to be minimal to moderate. Humberto is no more, half of his energy went into a new Atlantic low heading for Scotland, and half went back towards Imelda which is going to remain a hurricane for two or three more days before weakening in the middle of the Atlantic. There is an interesting looking tropical development in about two weeks, heading towards the southeast states. Too early to say if it has any potential to make landfall, or if these blocking highs will keep that one away as well.

We are now just kissing the first days of Oct, but still face a few weeks of “a normal hurricane season” - They become rare after Nov 1. Not unheard of, but rare.

Yes, the NWS and Hurricane Center are following their latest practice of “name everything that circles” with a hurricane name. But even so, very few storms despite the climate change alarmist predictions of Doom. So far.

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