Winter Weather — Anchorage, Alaska

2025-01-06 to 2025-01-07 · Anchorage, Alaska

Event narrative

The Anchorage ASOS Station (PANC) reported freezing rain at 12:07 PM AKST 1/6/25. PAMR and PAED similarly reported freezing rain near the same time period. Posts from social media reported graupel, freezing rain, rain, and snow. A trained spotter reported 0.1 inches of snowfall on the Anchorage Hillside. Ekluna Lake Rd closed at 12:40 PM AKST January 6th due to an extreme ice buildup and unsafe road conditions. An employee from the River Forecast Center shared a report that said The road is an unholy mess and cars are piling up at mile 4 and 4.5. Eklutna Lake Road is currently blocked by stranded cars - people can't get up or down. There were numerous social media reports of accidents and cars sliding off roads in Anchorage and Eagle River. An Anchorage police spokesperson said that 79 accidents and 54 vehicles in distress had been reported Monday January 6th.

Wider weather episode

A series of weather systems impacted Southcentral from January 6th to January 7th. Southerly flow from a surface low brought warmer air into the region, increasing temperatures, particularly aloft, which made conditions favorable for mixed precipitation including freezing rain. A trough with its associated front pushed into the Southcentral coast the morning of the 6th, bringing heavy precipitation and even more warm air to Southcentral. Locations including Valdez, Thompson Pass, Anchorage, the Matanuska Valley and West Kenai Peninsula saw mixed precipitation including freezing rain that led to difficult driving conditions and accidents. This was followed by a strong low that pushed into the Gulf in the afternoon hours of the 6th, which brought hurricane force winds to Southcentral. The Anchorage Hillside, Portage, and East Turnagain Arm areas received very strong winds that gusted in excess of 75 mph.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1234073. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.