Storm update: 8-12 inches of snow predicted for Anchorage area

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for the Anchorage area from Friday to Saturday and upped its weekend snowfall prediction. Eight to 12 inches of snow is predicted for Anchorage from Thursday night to Sunday evening, said Mark Byrd, a meteorological technician with the National Weather Service. Over Thursday night, there should be between 1 to 2 inches of snow and another 2 inches during the day on Friday, he said. Friday night will have the heaviest snowfall with between 4 to 8 inches, forecasters said. Snowfall will taper off Saturday morning, Byrd said, and the only snow between Saturday midday and Sunday will be scattered snowshowers. Meanwhile, temperatures should hover between 10 and 20 degrees throughout the weekend. The new snow will come from two systems. One weak system could bring flurries into Turnagain Arm and should dust the city with light snow Thursday night, he said. The second system will cause the heavier snow starting Friday night, Byrd said. The city's first official snowfall of the season was about 7 inches in early November, according to National Weather Service records. The weather service has also issued a blizzard warning for Thompson Pass from Thursday at 7 p.m. to Saturday at 6 a.m. with snowfall stacking up to anywhere between 12 to 24 inches. Mat-Su can expect an inch of snow over Thursday night, another through Friday, 2 to 4 inches over Friday night and not much snowfall after that, Byrd said. In the Kenai, 2 inches of snow was predicted during the day on Friday and 3 to 6 inches Friday overnight. Byrd said Anchorage has had less snow and more freezing rain than normal so far this winter. By this point in the season, Byrd said, Anchorage normally would have had 27 inches of snow, but this year the city has had 11.5 inches. "It's been unusual so far this season," he said. The last measurable snowfall in Anchorage was two-tenths of an inch Dec. 4, he said. Byrd said forecasts show chances of snow, but no freezing rain, for next week. Low temperatures Monday and Tuesday will bounce between 10 and zero, he said. After Tuesday, the rest of the week should have lows in the teens and highs in the mid-20s. Reach Benjamin Brasch at bbrasch@adn.com or 257-4349. Twitter: twitter.com/ben_brasch Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2013/12/12/3227086/significant-snowfall-will-return.html#emlnl=Breaking_News#storylink=cpy