Juneau is two feet away from an all-time winter snow record; history says that can easily happen

Mark Sabbatini
Mar 17
2 min read

Multiple rounds of snow showers forecast over coming days; advisories for Tuesday and Wednesday call for up to 8" of accumulation

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

The official winter total as of 11:59 p.m. Monday is 170.1 inches. The record is 194.3 inches. The all-time record for March is 62.7 inches and for April is 46.3 inches.

So with Juneau just past the midpoint of March, it’s easily possible the airport will receive the two feet of snow needed to break the winter record (snowfall since Oct. 1) set in 1964-65. Beginning with up to eight more inches forecast Tuesday and Wednesday as part of "multiple rounds of snow expected over the coming days," according to an advisory issued Tuesday morning by the National Weather Service Juneau.

"I can't tell you if we're going to hit it," Greg Spann, a NWS Juneau meteorologist, said Tuesday morning when asked if it's possible to predict the likelihood of breaking the all-time record. "I can't tell you if we're not going to. But what I can say is that it is entirely possible at this point. The fact that it’s in play is pretty notable in and of itself."

Average monthly snowfall for Juneau won’t suffice, with 12.4 inches in March and 1.2 inches in April as the historical norms, according to the NWS Juneau website. But the past few months have been far from normal, most notably a December that shattered the monthly record with 82 inches of snow — and also saw several days when low-temperature records were set.

The current forecast includes a winter weather advisory until 1 p.m. Tuesday, with one to three inches of snow forecast, and a second advisory from 4 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday with three to five inches of snow. The extended forecast through Monday calls for snow showers or a chance of snow every day.

"We're heading towards the second half of March so we're running out of time, but we're definitely making a run" at the record, Spann said.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.