Record early snowfall in Anchorage

[Anonymous]

By PETER PORCO
> > Anchorage Daily News > (Published: September 26, 2004)
> > A record-setting, early-season snowfall tripped up Anchorage on
> > Saturday by causing power lines to stretch and snap, electrical
> > transformers to pop and power to go off in areas across the city.
> >
> > The heavy, wet snow landed on birch, cottonwood and other trees that
> > still held some leaves to collect it. The branches bent under the
> > weight and sometimes collapsed. Some broke off onto power lines.
> >
> > The snow also badly gummed up city roads, thanks to the glop that
> > caught many motorists still traveling on summer tires. But the more
> > immediate cause for traffic delays was dead signals at some major
> > intersections.
> >
> > Anchorage police reported seven injury collisions and a few dozen
> > other crashes by early evening. None of the injuries was serious,
> > they said.
> >
> > The real problem was the downed lines, said a spokesman for
> > Municipal Light and Power.
> >
> > "There's arcing, blown switches and all kinds of dangerous
> > situations," said Gary Fife of ML&P. "Every guy we employ is out
> > with their trucks dealing with priority situations first. Then
> > they'll try to get everybody connected."
> >
> > The Anchorage Fire Department said a few fires had broken out where
> > wires began to spark, though none of the flames had spread.
> >
> > By nightfall, ML&P customers throughout its system remained without
> > power, Fife said. The utility serves about 30,000 customers,
> > including many downtown businesses, but dispatchers could not begin
> > to find out how many were affected.
> >
> > "We have had reports from all over our territory, so at least for us
> > it's systemwide," Fife said.
> >
> > "We're still being affected by that snow collecting on trees and the
> > branches will bend over and contact our power lines, and we get
> > shorts, electrical arcing, transformers popping, fuses are blowing
> > and switches are opening in a protective fashion," he said. By 8
> > p.m., they were restoring power to customers and had "turned a
> > corner," he added.
> >
> > Chugach Electric Association said some trees had fallen into its
> > lines, resulting in a few fires and a loss of power for some of its
> > customers for up to 2 1/2 hours.
> >
> > Altogether, about 15,000 of CEA's 68,000 customers in Anchorage had
> > been affected, a spokeswoman said. Intermittent outages throughout
> > the day struck customers in small groups here and there, said Carol
> > Heyman. Most of the outages were brief.
> >
> > "It was a lot of blinking," Heyman said.
> >
> > Some CEA customers at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport
> > also were affected, resulting in flight delays.
> >
> > "The airport was fine. We had backup power," said airport director
> > Mort Plumb. But some private ground handlers who help de-ice the
> > planes lost that ability when their pumps could not be operated,
> > Plumb said.
> >
> > Airport officials also issued a warning during the day that owners
> > of floatplanes in Lake Hood needed to be careful that the heavy snow
> > did not sink the aircraft.
> >
> > Customers of Matanuska Electric Association also lost power as a
> > result of snow-laden branches contacting power lines. About 7,000 of
> > the utility's 46,200 customers were without power by evening,
> > primarily in the areas of Big Lake, Meadow Lakes and Nancy Lake,
> > said spokesman Bruce Scott.
> >
> > About 1,300 others lost power in Chugiak, Scott said.
> >
> > Saturday's snowfall also forced cancellation of a few events, like
> > the ceremony at Delaney Park Strip to celebrate the unveiling of the
> > new Purple Heart Monument.
> >
> > "There's 100 chairs full of snow out there," said Brad Bradley,
> > commander of the Alaska Department of the Military Order of the
> > Purple Heart. "We're taking them up now."
> >
> > Snow fell comparatively heavily in Anchorage and north of Big Lake
> > but lightly if at all in Palmer and Wasilla.
> >
> > "I'm looking out the window at my green front lawn," said Scott, who
> > lives in the Finger Lake area, between Palmer and Wasilla.
> >
> > Anchorage received a total of "6 inches on the button," said
> > meteorologist Sam Albanese of the National Weather Service.
> >
> > That's what fell at the Anchorage forecast office on Sand Lake Road
> > near Raspberry Road, which keeps the official record.
> >
> > And a record it was.
> >
> > "This is the most snow we've had on the ground this early in the
> > season," meteorologist Dan Keirns said late Saturday afternoon.
> >
> > The city's earliest measurable snowfall was three-tenths of an inch
> > on Sept. 20, 1947, Keirns said.
> >
> > The previous record for largest early snow was 2.6 inches on Sept.
> > 29, 1965, which was followed the next day by another 2 inches.
> >
> > On average, the city gets its first snow by mid-October, according
> > to Weather Service statistics.
> >
> > The latest first snowfall of the season for Anchorage was on Nov.
> > 11, 1944, and again on Nov. 11, 1950.
> >
> > The Anchorage forecast office had predicted that Saturday morning
> > might bring flurries followed by rain. It had come close to sticking
> > its neck out with a prediction of heavier snow for Saturday but
> > pulled back, Albanese said.
> >
> > The meteorologists saw a trough of cold air sitting high over the
> > city and elsewhere in the state, and they saw warm air coming from
> > the Gulf of Alaska. How fast would that warm air mass mix with the
> > cold, bringing snow?
> >
> > They thought it would move more slowly than it actually did.
> >
> > "On Wednesday and Thursday we were talking about the possibility of
> > snow coming," Albanese said. "We were worried about snow on Friday
> > and even today, but we didn't put anything out. You don't want to be
> > screaming about snow and not have it happen."
> >
> > But don't expect Saturday's fluff to stay on the streets, Albanese
> > said. High temperatures into the 40s are forecast for today and well
> > into the week. Which disappointed him.
> >
> > "I like this snow," Albanese said. "I'm hoping it sticks around. I
> > like to go skijoring, and maybe this will give us an early start."
> >
> > Apart from the outages, the season's first snow, by arriving on a
> > weekend, gave city residents a relatively painless introduction to
> > winter, a warning to plan for what's ahead and to get their vehicles
> > winterized.
> >
> > "Due to the snow, we're receiving more new tire purchases with studs
> > and more changeovers," Charles Marshall, manager of the Johnson's
> > Tire Service outlet on Minnesota Drive and Northern Lights
> > Boulevard, said Saturday afternoon. "Compared to this time last
> > year, I would say we're probably doing twice the business, maybe
> > three times the business."
> >
> > "We're seeing a very brisk sale regarding studded snow tires," said
> > Dick Snyder, general manager of the Costco Wholesale outlet on
> > Dimond Boulevard.
> >
> > Daily News reporter Peter Porco can be reached at pporco@adn.com or
> > 257-4582.
> >
> > PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...UPDATE...
> > NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK
> > 445 PM ADT SAT SEP 25 2004
> >
> > ...WINTER ARRIVES EARLY IN ANCHORAGE...
> >
> > SNOWFALL...TOTALING 4.7 INCHES AS OF 4PM THIS AFTERNOON...BLANKETED
> > THE FORECAST OFFICE IN WEST ANCHORAGE. AMOUNTS RANGING FROM 3 T0 6
> > INCHES WERE REPORTED AROUND THE BOWL TODAY...WITH GREATER AMOUNTS AT
> > HIGHER ELEVATIONS.
> >
> > THE WET HEAVY SNOW TODAY CONTAINED 3/4 OF AN INCH OF LIQUID AND HAS
> > CAUSED TREES TO BEND AND BREAK. ROADS AROUND THE BOWL GENERALLY
> > REMAIN WET WITH SOME DEEP PUDDLES AND SLUSH. WITH TEMPERATURES
> > REMAINING COLD AFTER SUNSET THIS EVENING...ROADS WILL BE EXTREMELY
> > SLIPPERY.
> >
> > FOR TODAY...THE SNOWFALL OF 4.7 INCHES IS THE MOST RECORDED SO EARLY
> > IN THE SEASON. THE LAST TIME THERE WAS MORE THAN A HALF AN INCH OF
> > SNOW ON THE GROUND WAS SEPTEMBER 29, 1965. HOWEVER, TODAY'S SNOWFALL
> > WAS NOT THE EARLIEST SNOW EVER RECORDED. THAT DATE REMAINS SEPTEMBER
> > 20, 1947 WHEN 0.3 INCHES OF SNOW FELL.
> >
> > TODAY'S SNOWFALL IS THE MOST SNOW RECORDED IN SEPTEMBER SINCE 4.6
> > INCHES WAS RECORDED IN SEPTEMBER 1965. THE SEPTEMBER 1965 SNOWFALL
> > OCCURRED ON THE 29TH...2.6 INCHES...AND THE 30TH...2.0 INCHES.
> >
> > SEP 04
> >
> >