OK, maybe Juneau will break the snowfall record for January — contrary to what this newspaper reported yesterday — as the National Weather Service Juneau issued a winter storm warning Tuesday afternoon with nine to 14 inches of snow forecast between 3 p.m. Wednesday and 3 p.m. Thursday.
Juneau’s airport had exactly 70 inches of snow at midday Monday, 5.2 inches shy of the record for January set in 2009. The temperature forecast has dropped during the past day and is now expected to be within a few degrees of freezing during the warning period, meaning precipitation will likely be in the form of snow rather than rain possibly mixed with snow.
A total of four inches of snow are forecast during the day Wednesday and five inches Wednesday night. Snowfall is expected to be moderate on Thursday and taper off to a chance of snow during subsequent days as temperatures drop to a low of about 20 degrees.
The winter storm advisory comes a day after Juneau set both a rainfall record for Jan. 29 with 1.84 inches (topping the record of 1.54 inches set in 1993) and high-temperature record at 48 degrees (topping 47 degrees in 1993). A flood advisory was issued during the day for the Jordan Creek area.
Nearly all of the snowfall in Juneau this month occurred during a 12-day period when two multi-day blizzards each dumped more than 30 inches of snow in some parts of town. But heavy rainfall during the past weekend and on Monday dissolved most of the accumulation.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
