Snow fell in the hills above Fairbanks today, and this evening's scene has a wintry look. Here are a couple of webcam photos from Cleary Summit (2250' on the Steese Highway) today:
Snow is also now on the ground in Bettles:
Fairbanks airport reported just a few minutes of snow falling this afternoon, but no accumulation; valley-level temperatures are still well above freezing in Fairbanks-land.
Late September has become pretty normal for the season's first observation of falling snow in recent years in Fairbanks, while the first accumulating snow tends to be in the first half of October - but with considerable year-to-year variation, of course. The chart below shows the long-term variation.
It's remarkable how often the first snowflakes used to be observed around the beginning of September; but on the other hand, the first measurable snow and snowpack onset dates were comparable to today's climate back in the 1930s-1940s.
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