Anchorage experienced an unusually low-snow December in 2024, with only 1.9 inches recorded, contrasting sharply with the heavy snowfall of the previous year and creating ideal conditions for ice skating but challenging ones for skiing.

UAF Geophysical Institute space physicist Peter Delamere recently rode his fat-tire bike over frozen vegetation south of the Alaska Range until his tires finally bit snow a bit farther north.

The National Weather Service says the city has had no snow at this point in the season only twice before. On average, that doesn’t usually happen until halfway through April. Last year, which turned out to be the second snowiest on record, more than 2 feet blanketed the ground on March 3.

Schools in Susitna Valley were closed due to icy roads after high winds caused power outages in Anchorage and Mat-Su. Winds reached over 40 mph, with higher gusts reported in some areas.

Organizers say they will determine by Feb. 3 whether it’s feasible to run the traditional southern route.

In Anchorage and Mat-Su, schools shifted to remote learning due to dangerous icy road conditions caused by freezing rain, leading to transportation disruptions and multiple accidents.

Alaskans are taking advantage of rare ice skating conditions on alpine lakes in Chugach State Park, with hundreds of people hiking into the backcountry to skate on smooth ice in the shadow of iconic peaks.

Photos from Fairbanks show delicate “hair ice” forming on dead wood during an extended snow-free cold spell. Researchers link the phenomenon to the fungus Exidiopsis effusa, which enables hairlike ice strands to grow in humid, slightly subfreezing conditions.

It appeared that the plane had landed near a glacier on the partially frozen lake, broke through the ice as it rolled to a stop and then began to sink. It wasn’t known if the pilot landed intentionally on the lake thinking the ice was more solid than it was, or whether a mechanical issue forced the plane down.

Two people were swept under the ice on the Big Susitna River on Thursday morning while three others were able to reach safety, Alaska State Troopers said.

The Hatcher Pass Road in Alaska has opened for the summer season, but deep snow remains at higher elevations, with crews spending the last week digging out the road over the pass before opening it.

The second-worst flood on record in the Interior Alaska community of Manley Hot Springs began to recede on Sunday, but dozens of residents were displaced and cut off from power. Flooding is also reported in Sleetmute, Red Devil and Georgetown on the Kuskokwim River and Circle on the Yukon River.

Shifting sea ice patterns resulting from climate change are imperiling the subsea cable in ways the company did not plan for.The subsea cable is owned by Quintillion but affects companies delivering internet access to residents, schools and local governments.

The slide occurred at a time when forecasters in the region are cautioning backcountry skiers and snowboarders about the potential for warming weather to increase avalanche risk.

A power line fell on a car in Portland, killing three people and injuring a baby during an ice storm that turned roads and mountain highways treacherous in the Pacific Northwest.

The Western Arctic Caribou Herd has been declining for years, and the migration patterns of the animals have been changing. In several locations in Northwest Alaska, caribou have been arriving later and later in the season. Friday last week, people in Kotzebue finally started seeing caribou — hundreds of them ― crossing the Kotzebue Sound north of town, coming from the Noatak riverside. Ice conditions are one of the reasons for the caribou’s late migration, said Thomas Baker, chair of the Northwest Arctic Subsistence Regional Advisory Council.

A Houston man was injured by a moose near his home, an unusual event linked to increased moose aggression due to harsh winter conditions.

The Iditarod Trail Committee announced that poor snow conditions made the traditional southern route untenable, forcing organizers to move the start nearly 300 miles north, from Willow to Fairbanks. The novel 1,128-mile route passes through Interior Alaska with a loop on the Yukon River. “We are all rookies,” Big Lake musher Nicolas Petit joked.

Anchorage has experienced its lowest snowfall from December to mid-February since records began in 1953, with only 4.3 inches, leading to significant changes in winter events like the Iditarod and Fur Rondy due to unseasonably warm, windy weather.

Snow arrived at Mount Fuji more than a month after it normally would, after setting a record for the most-delayed snowfall in 130 years.