Record High Snows in Juneau, Alaska

Observation by Chas Zanoria

Over the course of December to early January, Juneau, Alaska, has experienced record-high snow levels, which have had a significant impact on the residents of the city. 79.8 inches of snowfall occurred during the month of December, making it the most the town has had since the mid 1900s. This is unusual due to the global trend of global warming and the recent patterns Juneau has had for their recent winters.

LEO Says

We reached out to our partners at ACCAP, and Rick Thoman joined the conversation with his perspective on what’s driving the unusually large snowfalls in Juneau. Check out the links in the sidebar for additional articles that help explain why we’re seeing such significant snowfall during the 2025–2026 season, and scroll down for a summary of these events.

Prolonged cold temperatures across Alaska in December, combined with the timing of both temperature drops and precipitation, created the right conditions for major snowfalls in Southeast communities.

Consult by Richard Thoman

Juneau airport reported 82.0 inches of snow in December, the highest December total on record, about five inches more than during the the very snowy January 2024. Increasing ocean surface temperatures allow for increased evaporation of water into the atmosphere, increasing precipitation when storms come along to convert the addition moisture into snow or rain. Because of Juneau's inner channel location and average temperature at or below freezing during the mid-winter months, the close proximity of cold continental air in northwest British Columbia can, in the right weather pattern, can keep Juneau cold enough for precipitation to fall as snow in the winter months, and as a result there is as yet no trend toward lower mid-winter snowfall.

AI Comment from GPT 5:

Juneau experienced an exceptional December snowfall, with the airport measuring a record 82 inches that continued into early January, disrupting daily life and raising questions about how such extremes fit recent winter patterns. The consult notes that warmer ocean waters can increase atmospheric moisture and, when paired with Juneau’s mid-winter cold, still yield heavy snow rather than rain, which helps explain the lack of a clear decline in mid-winter snowfall so far.

The related posts trace how this event unfolded and intensified. Early in the month, a strong pressure gradient between Interior high pressure and a Gulf of Alaska low set the stage for the first record daily snowfall on December 6–7, with 9.6 inches officially recorded and hazardous cold and wind chills following immediately after, as detailed in First heavy snow hits Southeast Alaska, setting a new daily record in Juneau and Sub-zero temperatures to follow record snowfall in Juneau. As totals mounted, the city struggled with where to put the snow and began assessing damages, reflecting the scale of the accumulation described in Record snow overwhelms Juneau, leaving few places to pile it. The hazard cascade documented after January 2024’s record event—when heavy rain on deep snow increased structural loads, flooded harbors, sank boats, and raised avalanche risk—offers a cautionary parallel in Arrival of heavy rain means risk for structures, boats and avalanches even higher after record snow. In response to these compounded risks, Juneau is updating its exposure picture, with hundreds more buildings now mapped into avalanche and landslide zones in Updated Juneau maps add buildings to avalanche risk areas, and exploring faster, more precise snowpack monitoring using automated drones as described in Drones could make Juneau’s avalanche monitoring faster and more precise. Together, these posts illuminate how a moisture-rich storm track combined with sustained cold can produce record snowfall, and how the resulting snowpack sets up evolving risks—from cold and wind to rain-on-snow and avalanches—that Juneau is actively working to manage.