In just 48 hours, over two feet of snow fell in Alaska’s largest city, Anchorage, breaking two daily records. “The city’s daily snowfall record on Wednesday when 9 inches of snow fell in 24 hours.
The previous record for Nov. 8 was 7.3 inches of snowfall in 1982. The 8.2 inches that fell Thursday broke the record of 7.1 inches set in 1956,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Nicole Sprinkles.
This is only the fourth time on record that the city has seen consecutive days of nine inches of snow in any month. Some parts of Anchorage, particularly those closer to the Chugach Mountains, recorded up to 30 inches of snow. The storm caused power outages, school closures, and some highway closures.
Meanwhile, a state of emergency has been declared in Grindavik, Iceland due to fears of a volcanic eruption. According to the National Weather Service in Anchorage, snow piled up between 9 and 15.5 inches from Matanuska-Susitna Valley to Butte. Near Eagle River, residents saw more than 18 inches of snow, with a staggering more than 25 measures south of the city.
The mayor’s office stated: “Snow accumulation was greater than what was forecasted, and due to the heavy snow, several fallen trees have been reported. Street maintenance operations have responded to 40 downed trees in the last 15 hours.”
This week’s heavy snowfall blanketed tents and vehicles used by homeless people as makeshift shelters across Anchorage. This happened after the city shut down a large shelter set up in the city’s sports arena during the pandemic. While the city cleared at least one of these large camps, some folks chose to brave the cold outdoors rather than seek shelter.
Sadly, the total number of homeless people who died while sleeping rough in the area this year has now reached 49, with four deaths from the recent snowfall. Last year, 24 people died in the same way, with 11 of those deaths occurring in the winter months.
Of the four recent deaths, a woman died on November 9 when her makeshift shelter caught fire, possibly due to a heating source used to warm it.
The other three deaths were all men – one was found dead in the doorway of a downtown gift store where he often slept. Another man died near a busy road close to a Walmart, and the third was found in a tent at a camp near the city’s main library.
