Whether it\u2019s snowfall or sunshine on this year\u2019s Christmas list, Juneauites should find something to smile about when they look outside Friday.<\/p>\n
There aren\u2019t expected to be any records broken Christmas day, but this month\u2019s 8.3 inches of snowfall measured by the National Weather Service at Juneau International Airport already blew past last December\u2019s total of 3.5 inches, with more expected to arrive Friday evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re looking at is a Christmas morning a little bit on the chilly side with temperatures in the low 10s to low 20s,\u201d Kimberly Vaughan, the NWS Observation Program leader, said. \u201cWe\u2019re probably going to see sunshine… as we move into the evening will be the best chance for snow.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the day expected to stay below freezing, accumulated snow will ensure a white Christmas.<\/p>\n
While things are looking brighter compared to last year\u2019s snow let-down, it\u2019s still a ways from just two years ago when December saw 40.1 inches of snow.<\/p>\n
Vaughan said this month is warmer than Decembers past, 4 degrees warmer than normal to date, however, that figure is unofficial without a full 30-year-normal weather analysis.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though it is cold, it\u2019s all a matter of perspective,\u201d Vaughan said. \u201cFor Juneau standards, it\u2019s been warmer than normal for this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
The warming climate mixed with El Ni\u00f1o patterns – unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean – hasn\u2019t allowed for the low temperatures necessary to keep thicker levels of snow seen just a few years past, Vaughan said.<\/p>\n
However, it only takes a tilt of the head to notice trees\u2019 mountainside transition from green to full-on white. The higher elevation in areas such as Eaglecrest Ski Area have helped keep 84 inches of snow on the ground, according to NWS reports.<\/p>\n
The ski resort reports on its website 16 inches of new snow in the past few days with high visibility. The area powdered sooner than expected this year, opening upper-mountain slopes a week early.<\/p>\n
Then there are those areas in Juneau where only trace amounts of snow will be present Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be a white Christmas… across the city, but very variable,\u201d Vaughan said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Snowfall During <\/strong><\/p>\n Decembers Past<\/strong><\/p>\n 2014 – 3.5 inches<\/p>\n 2013 – 40.1 inches<\/p>\n 2012 – 27 inches<\/p>\n 2011 – 14.5 inches<\/p>\n 2010 – 20.6 inches<\/p>\n Record High: 1964 –<\/p>\n 54.7 inches<\/p>\n \u2022 Contact reporter Paula Ann Solis at 523-2272 or at paula.solis@juneauempire.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Whether it\u2019s snowfall or sunshine on this year\u2019s Christmas list, Juneauites should find something to smile about when they look outside Friday. There aren\u2019t expected to be any records broken Christmas day, but this month\u2019s 8.3 inches of snowfall measured by the National Weather Service at Juneau International Airport already blew past last December\u2019s total […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":26293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[75],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-26292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26292"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=26292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}