With warmer days teasing folks who live in Southcentral Alaska, many of us are wondering: Is it spring yet?
While the spring season officially began on Sunday, it’s unclear if Alaska is quite ready to transition out of winter. Ray Christensen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Anchorage office, said Tuesday that it’s still hard to predict the weather beyond the first week of April.
“(It’s) going to be pretty close to what we’ve been seeing, so warmer and generally wetter than normal,” he said.
This winter started out slightly colder than normal in Southcentral, Christensen said, but is ending a little warmer than other years’ averages. He said the mean temperature in the greater Anchorage area during February was about 6 degrees higher than normal, while precipitation was also around 2 inches above the average.
Christensen said the averages are likely similar to those on the Kenai.
“The Kenai Peninsula is probably fairly similar, there are some variations but overall it was probably warmer and wetter down there too, in general,” he said.
In the upcoming week, Christensen said a few low-pressure systems coming up the Gulf might bring some more snow to coastal areas and Turnagain Pass. He said it will be less stormy in Anchorage and the western part of the Kenai Peninsula, however.
“There might be a slight chance of a little bit (of snow), but yes, it still looks like in general for this week it’ll stay above normal,” Christensen said.
According to the NWS, the central peninsula should reach highs in the mid 30s to lower 40s Wednesday, and on Thursday the high will be about 40 degrees. The weekend calls for a chance of rain and snow showers, with highs between 35 and 45 degrees.
Reach reporter Camille Botello at camille.botello@peninsulaclarion.com.
