Winter Storm in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska

Snow began at the Ketchikan Airport around 850am AKDT on the 15th while the COOP at the northern end of the borough noted snow began around 730am. The wind was already picking up at the airport in the morning with gusts of 20-30mph. Theses gusts continued to increase through the day while snow continued. The strongest winds of the day occurred within the 4pm hour with the Marine Exchange station at Salmon Landing reaching a peak gust of 62 mph at 435pm. Other wind gusts with this system across Ketchikan ranged from 40-56mph. A social media report from 7 mile South Tongass Highway noted 6.5 inches of heavy and wet snow had fallen. A trained spotter near downtown Ketchikan reported 6.5 inches of snow as well by 6pm AKDT and the airport reported a change to rain shortly after this. The COOP at the northern end of town saw only 1.8 inches of snow and was already mixing at their 3pm report time.

A low pressure tracked northward across the panhandle starting the morning of Sunday the 15th and continuing through Monday. Steady snowfall fell across the area, with strong winds and a change over to rain across the far south in the evening, and heaviest rates in Hyder and portions of the northern panhandle.