Last month was officially Juneau’s snowiest January on record, with 76.8 inches of snow recorded at Juneau International Airport. That breaks the previous record of 75.2 inches set in 2009.
“It’s been quite a month,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Edward Liske. “And that snow total for this January was also the second highest snowfall for any month on record. The only one that’s higher is February 1965, which was 86.3 inches.”
Juneau’s accomplishment was unique compared to the rest of Southeast Alaska. Snow totals in the capital dwarfed accumulations in nearby communities like Haines, Skagway and Gustavus.
Liske said a cold snap in early January set the stage. During the rest of the month, moist storm fronts from the south converged with the lingering cold air over Juneau, generating two consecutive winter storms.
“Both those storms had this scenario stick around for a good three days,” Liske said. “That was near probably 90% of the snow that we got for the month.”
The first storm dropped 33.1 inches at the National Weather Service Office in the Mendenhall Valley. The second, which happened just a week later, dropped 31.2 inches.
The snow disrupted travel all month long. It triggered a series of avalanches across town. At least one roof collapsed. And numerous boats sank under its weight.
The snowfall may seem unusual given that 2024 is an El Niño year. The natural climate phenomenon is usually characterized by wet, warmer weather, leading to more winter rain.
“But it’s not a hard and fast rule,” Liske said. “If we get the right combination of cold air snaps and these warm wet systems coming up, we can get buried with snow. So we’ve had other El Niño winters where we’ve just been buried.”
Since it stayed cold in Juneau this January, most of that extra precipitation came down as snow.
A brief bout of warmer temperatures and rain last week melted most of Juneau’s snow cover — but only for a brief moment. This week, another shorter storm blanketed the city in more than 13 inches of snow that fell in less than 24 hours.
And more is on the way. The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory effective from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, with the potential for another 4 inches of fresh powder.
