‘We could very well break this record, potentially either Saturday or Sunday. But it is not yet a slam dunk’
- Mark Sabbatini
- Mar 20
- 2 min read
Juneau is 10.3" from winter snowfall record; forecast calls for 4-9" by Saturday and more snow on Sunday — but temperature will be critical factor
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
Enquiring minds want to know: How many people stuck shoveling yet again will celebrate if Juneau’s all-time winter snowfall record is indeed broken during the coming days?
A total of 184 inches since Oct. 1 at Juneau International Airport as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday is the third-highest ever and 10.3 inches shy of the all-time high of 194.3 inches set in 1964-65, according to the National Weather Service Juneau. A winter storm watch is in effect until Saturday evening, with four to nine inches of snow forecast by then, said Greg Spann, a NWS Juneau meteorologist, on Friday morning.
"We could very well break this record, potentially either Saturday or Sunday," he said. "But it is not yet a slam dunk."
The critical factor will be temperature, Spann said.
"It's cold enough for it to be snow and for it to accumulate everywhere except potentially the actual surface itself, where you're going to have enough daytime heat on Saturday during the day itself that might impinge on those amounts," he said.
Sunday’s forecast calls for snow showers with about an inch of accumulation. The extended forecast calls for cloudy skies on Monday and Tuesday, with a chance of snow Wednesday and Thursday.
Between four to seven inches of snow had been forecast Thursday at the airport; total accumulation was 2.3 inches, according to NWS Juneau.
Juneau School District and Capital Transit buses are again operating on winter routes Friday.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
