Winter Storm — Haines Borough and Klukwan, Alaska

2024-12-01 to 2024-12-03 · Haines Borough and Klukwan, Alaska

Event narrative

Light snow began during the early morning hours of the 1st, picking up after 830am in town, with a social media report of 5.5 inches measured by 230pm that day. Snow continued to stack up through the 2nd with several trained spotters between Haines and Mud Bay recording 22 to 26 inches when it changed to freezing rain on the evening of the 2nd. Haines Customs measured 8 inches of snow during that same time period. There was a break in precipitation until about 450am on the 3rd when steady freezing rain began again. The freezing rain lasted until about 1230pm when temperatures warmed above freezing at the Haines Airport, but remained below freezing out the Haines Highway until about 5pm. Ice accumulations were measured at 0.15 to 0.5 inch.

Wider weather episode

Low pressure tracking northward over the panhandle collided with cold northerly outflow, resulting in rounds of heavy snow lasting over a two day timeframe for some locations. As warming occurred, there was an extended period of sleet and freezing rain, followed by impacts from moderate rain on the fresh snowpack.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1221651. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.