Snow returns to Southcentral Alaska, breaking up a long cold, dry spell

The Anchorage area could see between 2 and 4 inches of snow starting Friday, breaking up a long frigid and dry spell for Southcentral Alaska, according to the National Weather Service.

AI Comment from GPT 5:

A quick burst of snow is forecast to break Southcentral Alaska’s long cold, dry spell, with 2–4 inches possible in Anchorage and more along the western Kenai, while the Mat-Su faces another round of damaging high winds; forecasters note the region will likely return to deep cold and dryness after the system passes. Light, fluffy snow and gusty winds could reduce visibility, and skating conditions on frozen lakes like Portage may end as snowfall resumes.

This update lines up with earlier outlooks that the deep, moisture-poor cold snap would persist through the holidays, with only limited windows for snow before returning to below-normal temperatures, as described in Southcentral Alaska’s cold snap expected to last through the holiday season and the climatological setup outlined in Southcentral Alaska’s cold snap could linger for weeks, despite a warmer-than-normal November. The mention of renewed skating at Portage Lake echoes prior low-snow, good-ice patterns seen in Anchorage, such as December 2024’s sparse snowfall and standout skating conditions in Anchorage's low-snow December makes for idle plows and happy skaters and the similar dynamic captured in The snow is low, but the ice is nice. Taken together, the related posts highlight how brief snow events can punctuate otherwise dry Arctic air masses, with wind and visibility hazards in the Mat-Su and shifting tradeoffs between low-snow recreation and travel safety across Southcentral Alaska.