Cars carefully make their way through the slushy snow around the bend in the Kenai Spur Highway near Christmas light-filled Leif Hansen Park on Sunday in Kenai. After a chilly fall and several thick blankets of snow, temperatures rose sharply on the western Kenai Peninsula, climbing above freezing Sunday and converting the falling snow to rain. Small lakes formed from the snow on the Kenai flats and the ice built up along the shores of the lower Kenai River moved out. The National Weather Service issued a special weather statement Sunday, forecasting the warm weather to continue throughout the day Monday as a developing storm system brings “unsettled weather” to Southcentral Alaska. Strong wints are expected on the western Kenai Peninsula, with the strongest of the winds arriving in the Turnagain Pass area and in the Portage Valley, clocking in at up to 70 miles per hour Sunday night, according to the National Weather Service. Rain is expected in Seward and along the gulf coast, with temperatures remaining in the mid- to high 30s throughout the week. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)