Winter Storm in Haines Borough and Klukwan, Alaska

Light, dry, fluffy snow began to fall during the late evening and overnight of the 4th with temperatures in the single digits. Trained spotters and public reports from the Chilkat Peninsula and Mud Bay areas reported around 7 inches of new snow between 7-8am on the 5th. The COOP in town also measured 7 inches at 8am with moderate snow at the time. Shortly after that the ASOS at the airport had visibility fall to a quarter mile which lasted through the noon hour. Winds throughout this period were out of the NW and sustained at around 20mph, causing blowing and drifting snow. The Haines Police sent out a notice asking the public to stay off the roads due to the low visibility. By 1030pm, a trained spotter in town measured an additional 14 inches of snow since their 8am morning report and another 4 inches the following morning for a storm total of 26 inches over the day and a half long event. The same spotter noted significant warming through the morning of the 6th and the airport temperature spiked up 18 degrees when winds shifted to the E-SE around 10am. Brief mixing and rain occurred before ending around noon. The COOP in town measured a new 24hr accumulation of 17 inches on the 6th, for a storm total of 24 inches. Haines Customs COOP had much less snowfall from this event, totaling 7 inches over 3 daily measurements.

After significant snowfall in late December and this additional 2 feet of snow, damage to out buildings and other public facilities occurred, however a total monetary value is unknown. A well built timber frame carport collapsed due to the weight of the snow at around noon on the 6th, crushing a full size vehicle. The Haines Borough was added to the State disaster declaration for the winter storms on January 10th.

Temperatures cooled across SE Alaska along with outflow winds during the first couple days of January after December's big snow dump. This allowed the next system that moved in from the west on the 4th and 5th to start out as snow. Prefrontal snow showers during the evening of the 4th added to the storm total snow for parts of the northern and central panhandle, then the main system moved in overnight with heavy snow on Monday the 5th (set to be the first day back at school after Winter Break for most locations). The southern panhandle saw a change over to rain during the day on the 5th, then the rain/snow line pushed northward through the night and into the morning of the 6th. Some strong winds accompanied the front, starting out of the north then shifting to the south with the front and causing temperatures to rise.