Spring has sprung in Alaska and the seasonal snow pack is declining rapidly or already gone in most of the state. The time lapse below shows the view from the ACRC webcam looking south towards the Alaska Range. The animation loops through one image a day from April 15 to April 30 for 2024 (top) and 2023 (bottom). Melt out this year was quick and about two weeks earlier than last year.
The snow depth graph on the right shows data from the Fairbanks airport station, which confirms the impression from the webcam regarding the earlier melt out. The 2023/24 season started early and with above average values. Around mid-January a plateau was reached near the long term average and the timing of melt out is also in line with the 1991-2020 normal. Snow depth during the 2022/23 season was near normal for much of the fall and winter but picked up significantly in spring, with substantial snow fall events in March and April and a late melt out date.
See below for similar plots for Bettles, Anchorage, and Juneau. Click the images for a full size view.
Anchorage had another exceptional snow season but melt out also occurred a little earlier than last year. The plot below shows daily snow depth at the Anchorage airport station for the time series. The vertical axis is in days since October 1. The three large snow fall events in November and December 2023 and late January 2024 appear as jumps from darker to brighter colors.
