Winter Storm — Municipality of Skagway, Alaska

2023-12-24 to 2023-12-26 · Municipality of Skagway, Alaska

Event narrative

Snow began in the late afternoon of Christmas eve, then by about 9am Christmas morning, Klondike Highway DOT reported 7 to 12 inches of snow between mile post 8 and the border. The following morning DOT reported another 5 to 8 inches for a storm total of up to 20 inches. As the storm was moving out, a southerly surge of winds caused a peak wind gust of 62mph at the Skagway airport, measured at 905am on the 26th, and likely causing blowing and drifting snow up the highway. It was reported later by DOT that the Klondike Highway was closed on the Canadian sides due to white out conditions between the summit and Fraser. The US side was closed later as well.

Wider weather episode

Another low in a series of systems affecting the panhandle brought wind to the south and elevation snow to the north as a front tracked northward across the region.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1154256. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.