Sixth-largest two-day snowfall in Fairbanks history dumps 18.5 inches

FAIRBANKS — It’s Fairbanks’ turn to dig out.

After watching blizzards bury the Midwest and Northeast this winter, Fairbanks residents woke up Monday to a taste of what folks in the Lower 48 have been enduring.

More than a foot and a half of snow fell Sunday and Monday, filling roads, driveways, sidewalks and parking lots with more snow than has been seen from one storm in more than 25 years.

Wind gusts of 15 to 30 mph caused blowing and drifting snow that reduced visibility to zero at times, making driving — or even walking — a serious challenge.

“This is like Minnesota or North Dakota,” said meteorologist Scott Berg at the National Weather Service in Fairbanks.

As of 3 p.m. Monday, 18.5 inches of snow had fallen at Fairbanks International Airport since 11:30 a.m. Sunday. That ranks as the sixth-greatest two-day snowfall on record dating back to 1904. The record is 26.9 inches on Feb. 11-12, 1966.

“That’s pretty impressive for a place that usually only gets 2 inches of snow at a time,” meteorologist Corey Bogel said.

The 24-hour total of 17.1 inches between 3 p.m. Sunday and 3 p.m. Monday was the second-greatest 24-hour snowfall in Fairbanks. The record is 20.1 inches in 24 hours spanning Feb. 11-12, 1966.

The snowfall Sunday and Monday broke records for those dates. The 6.7 inches of snow that fell Sunday topped the previous record of 4.6 inches in 1962 and the 11.8 inches that had fallen as of 3 p.m. Monday buried the old mark of 2.5 inches set in 1913.

The 11.8 inches that fell Monday was the eighth-greatest daily snowfall on record in Fairbanks, and it was still snowing when that measurement was taken, though the all-time record of 16.0 inches on Feb. 11, 1966 appeared safe. The last time more snow was recorded in a calendar day was 14.6 inches on Nov. 20, 1970.

Before this week, the biggest two-day snowfall in the past two decades was Feb. 17-18, 1996, when 14.3 inches fell.

A narrow band of heavy snow spread across the central Interior from Huslia to North Pole beginning at 11:30 a.m. Sunday. The heaviest snow was in North Pole, where more than 20 inches was reported, according to Berg, who lives there.

The snow did not extend south of Nenana or Eielson Air Force Base, he said. Delta Junction had only a few flurries, as did Denali Park.

“It really varied widely how much snow each area got,” Berg said. “The heaviest bands were just south of Fairbanks across North Pole and Eielson.”

Wind that picked up after the snow tapered off Monday morning made matters worse, causing whiteout conditions and making life miserable for motorists and pedestrians alike.

“Now we know what those poor people on the East Coast have to deal with,” Nadia Bacon said as she brushed snow off her Toyota Yaris in the snow-clogged parking lot of Northgate Square.

Not far away, Al Lemieux was preparing chains for the back tires of his station wagon, which was stuck in the parking lot. Three men came by and pushed his car out.

“I was going to go to Brewster’s and figured this was the least chance I had to get stuck,” he said of his parking spot.

Plow trucks were out in force on Monday to clear driveways and parking lots. Richard Frerichs, who was plowing snow for Tanana Chiefs Conference, said he had been going nonstop since 8 a.m.

“It’s crazy,” Frerichs said. “It reminds me of the 1980s.”

The storm was a result of a low-pressure system that settled over the Arctic Slope and moisture pushed into Alaska from the Russian Far East, Berg said.

More snow is not expected until the end of the week, and highs today and Wednesday will be in the single digits above, with lows to 30 below.

The storm’s impact was lessened by school closures Monday and today for parent-teacher conferences. Also, state and federal offices were closed for Presidents’ Day, which meant less traffic on the roads.

If schools hadn’t been closed for parent-teacher conferences, there’s a good chance they would have been closed because of the snow, said Bill Bailey, spokesman for the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District.

“It would have been a challenge,” he said of the prospect of transporting students to schools.

People who had the day off got to wield snow shovels and snow blowers at home.

Bacon spent an hour and half shoveling her driveway Monday morning so she could make it to her daughter’s parent-teacher conference.

“I called the school to see if the teacher had made it in before I drove anywhere,” she said.

Some parents asked to reschedule conferences because of the weather. Bailey said the school district would do everything possible to accommodate parents who missed their child’s conference or in the event a teacher was not able to make it to school for a conference.

The school district was hoping to have parking lots cleared by the time students return Wednesday, Bailey said.

The storm pushed the snowfall for February up to 22.0 inches, which is more than three times the normal monthly average of 7.1 inches, but only about half the record of 43.1 inches set in February 1966.

The big dump of snow also helped Fairbanks make up a considerable snow deficit.

Before Sunday, only 33 inches of snow had fallen at the airport, which was about 24 inches below normal for that date. The season total now stands at 51.5 inches, which is only 7.3 inches below average.

The wind and snow caused several power outages around Fairbanks as a result of trees falling on power lines, said Golden Valley Electric Association spokeswoman Corrine Bradish.

Extended power outages were reported in the Birch Hill, Cripple Creek and Chena Ridge areas.

Because GVEA was closed Monday for the holiday, crews were called in to deal with the outages and were working as quickly as possible to restore power, she said.

“As long as the wind is blowing, this is going to go on for hours,” Bradish said.

Contact staff writer Tim Mowry at 459-7587.

Two-Day Dumps

Here are the 10 greatest two-day snowfalls on record in Fairbanks, according to statistics from the National Weather Service dating back to 1904. Curiously, the record year of 1990-91, which brought 147.3 inches of snow, did not make the list. The highest two-day snowfall that winter was 13.4 inches on March 23-24. Neither did the memorable winter of 1992-93 make the list. The greatest two-day snowfall that winter was 12.9 inches on Sept. 13-14.

Dates Snowfall

Feb. 11-12, 1966 26.9’’

Jan. 19-20, 1937 26.0’’

Dec. 16-17, 1984 23.1’’

Dec. 26-27, 1965 22.7’’

Feb. 12-13, 1966 18.6’’

Feb. 20-21, 2011 18.5’’

Dec. 18-19, 1968 17.9’’

March 24-25, 1963 17.2’’

Feb. 1-2, 1977 16.8’’

Nov. 19-20, 1970 16.4’’