Winter Weather — Anchorage Muni To Bird Creek, Alaska

2023-02-23 · Anchorage Muni To Bird Creek, Alaska

Event narrative

The Soldotna AWOS reported unknown precipitation at a temperature of 25 degrees Fahrenheit during the morning hours of February 23. Later that day, a pilot reported light rain at Kenai Municipal Airport while temperatures remained around 26. A member of the public also reported drizzle with a trace accumulation of ice early in the morning.

Wider weather episode

A front brought a deep fetch of moisture and warm air aloft over Southcentral Alaska on February 23, leading to a mixture of mostly snow, with some rain. Freezing rain/drizzle was observed in parts of the western Kenai Peninsula throughout the day as the warm air rode over top a cold air mass which remained below freezing at the surface. Precipitation tapered off and changed over to rain by the evening hours as the front began to shift east and warm air working in on southerly flow brought temperatures above freezing.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1102223. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.