tue, 23-apr-2013, 07:01

This morning’s weather forecast includes this section:

.WEDNESDAY...CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE MORNING...THEN SNOW LIKELY IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 1 TO 2 INCHES. HIGHS AROUND 40. WEST WINDS INCREASING TO 15 TO 20 MPH.

.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...CLOUDY. SNOW LIKELY IN THE EVENING...THEN A CHANCE OF SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOWS IN THE 20S. WEST WINDS TO 20 MPH DIMINISHING.

Here’s a look at how often Fairbanks gets two or more inches of snow later than April 23rd:

Late spring snowfall amounts, Fairbanks Airport
Date Snow (in) Date Snow (in)
1915‑04‑27 2.0 1964‑05‑13 4.5
1916‑05‑03 2.0 1968‑05‑11 2.7
1918‑04‑26 4.1 1982‑04‑30 2.8
1918‑05‑15 2.0 1992‑05‑12 9.4
1923‑05‑03 3.0 2001‑05‑04 3.2
1931‑05‑06 2.0 2001‑05‑05 2.9
1948‑04‑26 4.0 2002‑04‑25 2.0
1952‑05‑05 2.8 2002‑04‑26 4.4
1962‑05‑07 2.0 2008‑04‑30 3.4

It’s not all that frequent, with only 18 occurrences in the last 98 years, and two of those 18 coming two days in a row. The pattern is also curious, with several in the early 1900s, one or two in each decade until the 2000s when there were several events.

In any case, I’m not looking forward to it. We’ve still got a lot of hardpack on the road from the 5+ inches we got a couple weeks ago and I’ve just started riding my bicycle to work every day. If we do get 2 inches of snow, that’ll slow breakup even more, and mess up the shoulders of the road for a few days.

tags: snow  weather 
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