Weather

Alaskans are keenly aware of the weather. Many favorite activities, including gardening, hunting, fishing, traveling, or recreating take place outdoors, and are all greatly affected by temperature, wind, rain, snow, and ice. As these conditions change, what people do outdoors and how they do it has to change as well. This isn’t always easy for Alaskans whose lifestyles depend on the seasons and natural resources.

Warmer Winters

Early season snow on mountains near Skagway.

NPS

In both Skagway and Nome, everyone agreed that the winters are getting warmer. In Skagway, this has meant years when there is not enough snow for cross-country skiing or too much rainfall flooding rivers and keeping people from accessing a favorite hunting spot or hiking trail. And in Nome, warmer winters means lake, river and sea ice that is too thin and weak for safe winter travel.

Residents of Skagway noted that because their winters are warmer there is now more rain and less snow than there used to be, and a recurring freeze-thaw cycle that creates more icing conditions. In the past, it got cold and stayed cold all winter.

It’s warmer. And it’s wetter. When we were first out in Dyea, I’d see it twenty, twenty-two below, something like that, and howling winds. And that would last for a stretch of time. But now, it might get to four below instead. We still have the strong winds, but we don’t have the amount of snowfall that we did before. We have more rain. – John McDermott, Skagway

The weather pattern is different now. Storms used to come from the north bringing bad blizzards where you’d get big drifts surrounded by bare ground. Today, more storms are coming from the south that are wetter with more moisture, so that means more heavy snowfall and even rain and the snow drift pattern is different. – Ken Adkisson, Nome

When we do get snow, it tends to be around briefly and then it’ll thaw. So we have more freeze-thaw cycles. – Elaine Furbish, Skagway.

Sledding in Skagway.

© Jolanta Ryan

This lack of winter has changed how people in Skagway behave. The warmer temperatures and seasonal changes have shortened what used to be long, cold winters and made them easier for some people to cope with. But for others, this new lack of winter is disappointing.

We used to have a lot colder winters. We would ice skate on the frozen ponds or river, but it doesn’t get cold enough anymore. – Bea Lingle, Skagway

We don't get big snows anymore that stay. You can’t cross-country ski in town anymore. You have to go up to the mountains. – Jeff Brady, Skagway

Storm Patterns

Two people walking along an exposed ridge towards Laughton Glacier near Skagway.

NPS

Skagway typically has strong cold winds blowing down the valley off the mountain glaciers. There used to be a predictable pattern. Now, with climate change, the wind direction is not as consistent, and winter and summer storm patterns are altered. This makes it harder to plan activities.

When we were first here, we saw weather patterns that were much more severe with sustained winds. We had prevailing winds; we knew what they were gonna be. It was out of the north/northwest in the winter. It was out of the south/southeast in the summer. Maybe nine years ago, we noticed those prevailing winds were no longer dependable. And I remember the winter where we first noticed, ‘Wait, this is a southeast wind, and it’s the middle of winter. This is not something that we’ve seen before.’ And since then, it’s been extremely variable. – Lynne Cameron, Skagway

We get some pretty good storms. We’ve had strong storms before, but I don’t know, to me it just seems like they are a little stronger now when they come in. – John McDermott

More Rain

Steel bridge along the Chilkoot Trail in Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park was washed downstream as the river widened during unusually heavy rainstorms from October 1-13, 2022. This created a gap that the bridge likely won’t be able to span in the future.

NPS

Stronger and warmer storms bring more rain and wind to Skagway that increase coastal and river erosion. For example, the Taiya River (Dyea River), that flows 17 miles from Chilkoot Pass at the US-Canada Border into upper Lynn Canal, has flooded more times in recent years than throughout its recorded history. The river’s heavy flow is eating away the riverbank at the old Dyea Townsite, taking pieces of history along with it. And a twenty-foot record flood in October 2022 damaged the Chilkoot Trail and its bridges, making the route impassable. The trail is expected to remain closed for at least a year for repairs.

Nome residents have also observed warmer and shorter winters with less snow and more rain. This can have severe consequences.

There is more freezing rain than in the past and it coats everything, and then it turns into a layer of ice. And with a low snowfall year, that freezing rain makes it harder for everything that is using the lichen that is now covered with ice. Caribou have to dig for lichen to survive. Or even animals, like lemmings, that live on the tundra on that top surface and hibernate underground or under the snow layer, this ice layer causes issues for them for getting food and into their tunnels and burrows. – Jacob Martin, Nome.

Travel

Winter has traditionally been the prime travel season in the Arctic. In the summer, the wet and uneven tundra tussocks and numerous lakes and rivers dominating the landscape make for challenging travel conditions. Frozen rivers, lakes and sea ice offer a smooth and fast traveling surface for dogteams, snowmachines, and all-terrain vehicles.

Without this frozen ground and ice and snow cover, winter travel then also can be impossible. These travel corridors are vital for rural communities like Nome whose residents have been sustained by hunting, fishing and trapping for generations. Not being able to access subsistence foods at the right season can have severe personal and cultural impacts.

But less snowfall has had some benefits; not as much snow shoveling.

When I was young, most of the story houses on First Street were almost buried in a snowdrift on the seaward side. The snow has not been that deep in years. – Charlie Lean, Nome

Changing Weather

A group of people on snowmobiles at Bering Land Bridge National Preserve

© Lia Nydes

Wind and storms are also key factors when making travel decisions in Nome. Nobody wants to get caught in a ground blizzard with zero visibility miles away from home. Iñupiat hunters are known for their expert navigational skills on wide expanses of frozen sea ice or flat tundra, for their knowledge of wind patterns, and for an ability to predict storms.

Today, people report shifts in wind directions and a more variable storm pattern, presenting new challenges for even expert travelers in a place where severe weather can quickly cause trouble. They need to develop new understandings of key environmental factors to remain successful navigators.

The weather pattern is different now. Storms used to come from the north bringing bad blizzards where you’d get big drifts surrounded by bare ground. Today, more storms are coming from the south that are wetter with more moisture, so that means more heavy snowfall and even rain and the snow drift pattern is different. – Ken Adkisson, Nome

Winter travel by snow mobile.

NPS

In contrast, Iñupiaq hunter, Roy Ashenfelter, said in 2020 that because the winter storms nowadays bring less snow, they are less severe than they used to be. For him, this means he can go out hunting more often and easily without having to face the travel hazards of blinding snow and large snowdrifts across the trail.

We used to have lots of snowstorms in the 1970s and 1980s, but we seem to have fewer severe storms now. – Roy Ashenfelter, Nome

However, since 2020, some Nome residents feel that there has been an increase in snowfall and those blinding blizzards that create very dangerous travel conditions. This was especially true in the winter of 2023 when storm after storm blew in off the Bering Sea in what felt like a never-ending cycle.

In contrast to less snow making it easier to travel cross-country by snowmachine, a lack of snow can be frustrating for biologists conducting aerial surveys to count and assess wildlife populations.

When there’s not enough snow, it’s hard to do a good aerial survey. You’re literally trying to find brown muskox or a brown moose on brown vegetation. It’s so much easier to see the dark animals against the white snow and so you can be more comfortable with your results. If there’s just not enough snow to do this type of method now, what do we do? – Letty Hughes, Nome

Nome has experienced other seasonal weather changes besides shorter and warmer winters. For example, Jacob Martin feels like they’ve had more thunder and lightning over the past five or six years. This is a big change for a place that typically doesn’t experience either of these.

What weather changes have you noticed where you live?

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