Alaska Snow Storm in July: The National Weather Service Just Issued a Winter Warning in the Middle of Summer

For some reason, reading a winter weather advisory in the last week of July is really confusing. Most of the country is in the middle of summer right now, with heat advisories, concerts outside, and trips to the lake in the afternoon. As for Alaska, it could get up to six inches of snow and there will be ice on the roads. The National Weather Service in Fairbanks has issued a formal advisory.

The cold front is moving southeast from the Chukchi Sea, which is in the Arctic Ocean and lies between Alaska and Russia. It is pushing the storm toward the coast. A picture from space taken by the NWS office in Fairbanks shows the system moving steadily across the state. The precipitation is likely to start as rain, then change to a wintry mix, and finally turn into snow. Overnight, freezing drizzle is possible. There is a pattern of wet, then icy, then snow that makes roads more difficult than a straight snowfall.

There is a weather advisory for the Central Brooks Range, the Dalton Highway between mile posts 232 and 322, and the areas around Atigun Pass, Anaktuvuk Pass, and Galbraith Lake. It’s likely to snow between two and six inches, with the heavier end of that range falling at higher elevations. The NWS is warning that blowing snow and a thin layer of ice on the roads will make it harder to see. Drivers get a clear message: slow down and be careful.

Let’s talk about the Dalton Highway for a moment. That’s not just any old, faraway road. The Dalton is one of the most difficult roads in the United States. It goes through the middle of Alaska for about 414 miles, heading toward Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic coast. It was the focus of several seasons of the History Channel show Ice Road Truckers and was shown on BBC’s World’s Most Dangerous Roads. In fact, Atigun Pass, which is now under this advisory, was the site of an episode with hurricane-force winds. Even when it’s in great shape, this road needs to be respected. If it snows in July and then freezes over, there isn’t much room for error.

Since it’s still July, something about this doesn’t seem quite right. But it has snowed in Alaska’s mountain ranges in the summer before. The Brooks Range is high up and far enough north that cold weather isn’t impossible in the summer, even though it doesn’t happen very often. This week is different because the system is well-organized and the roads are icy at a time of year when drivers, even those who live in the area for a long time, might not have snow tires on their cars or be mentally ready to make decisions about winter driving. People are more likely to be hurt by weather they weren’t expecting, not because they can’t handle snow, but because they weren’t ready for it.

Along with the advisory, there are also warnings of isolated thunderstorms moving through the interior of Alaska as the same cold front moves through. Over a larger part of the state, it will likely rain and blow, but the snowiest areas will be in the north, around the Brooks Range. In lower elevations, thunderstorms are happening, and higher elevations are getting snow. This shows that the weather system is not a small, localized event.

The alert will last until Monday at 4 a.m. AKDT. This week, people traveling on the Dalton Highway or through the affected mountain corridors should pay attention to what the NWS says. On this road, a few inches of snow and a patch of black ice don’t give you much time to figure out what to do.