Alaska Weather Blog and Alaska Weather Store
The huge section of heavy old snow pictured below finally slid off the roof of our shed sometime in the middle of the night recently. Luckily, it remained jammed vertically in the snow below and did not fall against the shed. What do think it weighs? Click on the photos for a better look…it’s the […]
It’s been a cold winter across most of Alaska. It’s not the first and it won’t be the last. During every winter there are relatively colder and warmer periods. This year these cold snaps and warm spells seem to be aligned pretty well to the calendar months: November was cold, December warm, and January…one of […]
Alaska is a big place, and the weather system affecting our state right now is even bigger, but I’m going to show you that is it the small scale that counts when it comes to winds of the south and southeast coasts. As I write this, virtually the whole state is under the influence of […]
Polar lows are small, somewhat elusive, and usually quite potent…cool stuff for weather watchers. They are small compared to their more common, mid-latitude big brother lows, up to a few hundred miles across, compared to a thousand or more miles across for the later. They are more like the size of hurricanes. For that reason, […]
My tips for witnessing unusual, interesting or simply beautiful weather phenomena have always included spending as much time as possible outdoors and keeping your eyes up, as in looking up at the sky often. A couple days ago I found some unusual weather down at my feet. Snow rollers! My other advice is to always […]
This year’s winter forecast is going to look a lot like last year’s. That’s because last winter was a La Nina winter and this winter almost certainly will be one, (or already is depending on your point of view). And how did my forecast for last winter turn out? Here’s that story. A twist to […]
Driving in winter in Alaska can be interesting, to put it mildly. Driving around town is included in this statement but is certainly not like hitting the open highway, crossing vast, unpopulated areas and ascending and descending mountain passes while dealing with any combination of snow, ice, fog, white-out*, wind, extreme cold, long darkness or […]
Not all of Alaska is in the rainiest time of the year right now, but the southeast arm of the state, also variously known as the panhandle, the Inside Passage, the Banana Belt, or just plain Southeast sure is. In fact, I like the term rain coast. Farther north the rainiest time tends to be […]
Most Alaskans had reason to complain about the recently departed summer. Not that having a reason has kept anyone from complaining in the past. I invite you to check out the hard data below, compare it with your experience and let’s see if we can come up with an award (sorry no prize money) for […]
The 500 mb (millibar) weather map has traditionally been the bread and butter of weather forecasters. Today, with so many new, high tech tools at their fingertips, is this map still relevant? You bet! The 500 mb level of the atmosphere is simply the height at which the air pressure is 500 mb (or 50 […]
