pretty/snowy, winter towns in alaska? (Anchorage, Barrow: how much, home, find a job)

[njstinks0622]

Can anyone clue me in on snowy winter towns in Alaska? I know Valdez gets dumped on and Im looking to get as much snow as possible. I have absolutely no idea on where to look.

Also, a place where it wont be too hard to find a job. Possibly looking for some type of port/labor job.. Any suggestions?

[warptman]

Um, the whole state is that way in the winter...

[njstinks0622]

im looking for somewhere that gets well over 100 inches of snow a year

[Chilkoot]

There are very few towns in Alaska that get well over 100 inches of snow each year. Valdez is an extreme and may be the only place that meets your criteria of jobs as well. There are a lot communities along the northern US contiguous states that get far more snow each year than many communities in Alaska.

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by njstinks0622

im looking for somewhere that gets well over 100 inches of snow a year

Keep in mind that how much snow falls isn't all there is to it. If it all melts within a few days, and turns to slush and mush and mud, you might as well live where it rains that much!

In much of Alaska there isn't that much snow that comes down all totalled during an entire winter, but... For example here in Barrow the "first snow" (it can snow and melt on any day all summer) is the snow in October that does not melt until late May or early June! It may only amount to 30 inches coming down all winter, but it also gets blown east and then west and then east and then west and on and on all winter. It is "snowing" here almost all the time!

And it builds up too. In any part of Alaska where the wind blows (which means all coastal areas and a few in the Interior too), there can be snow drifts, some of which last for months, that are 10 feet deep.

If you want to spend time looking at snow or playing in it, don't go where it snows 100 inches because that invariably means there is a lot more time when it is just wet and you really can't use the snow.

[Alaskan Mutt]

Originally Posted by njstinks0622

Can anyone clue me in on snowy winter towns in Alaska? I know Valdez gets dumped on and Im looking to get as much snow as possible. I have absolutely no idea on where to look.

Also, a place where it wont be too hard to find a job. Possibly looking for some type of port/labor job.. Any suggestions?

Someplace that gets lots of snow and is not too hard to find work. I think you have set your sights a little high on this one. As a rule, rural Alaska has high unemployment. There just are not a lot of jobs out there. Getting a port job is very high on the list of jobs that are hard to come by. In Anchorage I know people that have been on the union list for years without getting a call. The labor jobs are out there. Your best chances are looking for work in one of the larger towns. Often it is a matter of being in the right place at the right time. One of your best bets is to make friends with people working in the construction field. Having someone on the inside recommend you often will move your app to the top of the stack.

[fairbanks101]

I could be wrong but typically the places where they get a ton of snow have shorter winters. So you would have 100 inches of snow in the middle of the winter and then a long transition from snow to slush, to swamp to summer. I can enjoy a few feet of snow but I dont know about all that.

[BudinAk]

I think you already have the answer: Valdez. Incredible amounts of snow. Way more than the "norm" for the rest of the state. Somebody told me they get like 40 feet (yes: FEET) of snow per year. I've heard stories of 4foot dumps in ONE night...
And....I heard some of the commercial buildings keep snowblowers up on the roof ALL WINTER...they just leave them up there, because they have to use them so much to clear the snow off...
They have like dozens of guys who do nothing but shovel snow off of roofs, driveways, and sidewalks all winter long for a living...

I've experienced 2-foot dumps overnight where I live (Seward), and I thought that was WAY excessive...guess I'm just a total wimp...
Used to plow my 1/4 mile long driveway with the usual 3/4T truck with a "Meyer" plow. But it got so bad sometimes that it took like 3 to 4 HOURS to clear that short distance, with the driveway totally impassable for that time. Besides, after several months of pushing snow, there comes the problem of snow-berm buildup where you simply run out of room and places to push the snow...the yard becoming smaller and smaller as winter drags on. In desperation, I finally got rid of the plowtruck, and bought an old John Deere backhoe (70's vintage)...much better...it can lift a load of snow up, and over, existing snow berms...

Bud

[akck]

Juneau snowfall averages close to the 100" mark. Over the the past 3-4 years, we've averaged well over 150" of snow per year. You do have to compare this to years where they barely had enough snow to open the ski area here.

[aquariusmom]

Cordova gets a ton of snow, but theres so much more to picking a future home than how much snow they get.... both Valdez and Cordova are on the Prince William Sound so there are port type jobs, but not necesarily year round. Check with the barge co.s- Sampson Tug and Bagre in CDV, the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system, harbormasters, and the major processors (eg. Trident, Ocean Beauty).