Average winter? Or a throwback to the old days? (Anchorage: how much, house) - Alaska (AK) - City-Data Forum

rsgis · 01-09-2012, 01:02 PM

I just wanted to get a sense of how you old timers/sourdoughs think about the amount of snowfall we have had in the Anchorage area (or other places, like Cordova - where the National Guard has been called in) this winter. Do you think this is extraordinary, or is the snow just catching up with us after having had a few easy winters the last few years?

And another semi-related question - Do all snow plough drivers in AK go to the same school of lets-win-the-block-the-driveway-contest to get qualified for operators certification? Assuming there is one? I live in Eagle River, all too often I have returned to the house after work to find a +2ft berm blocking my driveway that was frozen solid. It takes me an hour to hack it out before I can pull in - but what the hey, I guess I need the exercise.

Jan Alaska · 01-09-2012, 01:46 PM

Theres plow drivers in Anchorage ?

gobrien · 01-09-2012, 09:56 PM

I heard that the city hasn't been doing a good job plowing this year...guess the mayor is too busy fretting about people sitting on sidewalks.

roadfamily6now · 01-09-2012, 10:03 PM

does the city ever do a good job with plowing?? Compared to other cities I have lived in, and yes, they had snow... Anchorage has some issues with getting the roads taken care of.

Jan Alaska · 01-09-2012, 10:37 PM

We were out and about in Anchorage on Saturday, it was snowing the roads were a mess and we didn't see a single plow. Back in December I went into town to do some Christmas shopping about a week after the last wind/snow storm, and C street south of Tudor was still totally untouched and by then they hadn't had any snowfall for about a week and yet it was like driving on fresh snow. It just seems that the roads aren't a priority, not sure what is but I have a feeling some it the problem is financial.
This weekend leaving the Glen Hwy near Arctic Valley Rd unplowed meant it was down to 1 lane, complain about the speed of some drivers but if the city was out doing its job the highway would have been open and there would have been 3 full lanes.
I have previously lived in N Michigan where the plows are out at 4am clearing roads and sometimes still working at 9pm after heavy snow falls.
The argument about this being a heavy snow year is void ... this is Alaska fgs !

gobrien · 01-10-2012, 05:25 AM

Fireweed Lane has two schools located on it-my kids went to one of them-and the sidewalks weren't ever plowed, creating a big hazard for the kids who had to walk. There would be big boulders of ice scraped off of the roads. It was so bad, one young man started a Facebook page against the mayor. The cross street-Denali-always had plowed sidewalks. It was the same trying to walk on the sidewalks of Northern Lights Blvd and Benson. Anchorage really does not seem to care about pedestrian safety, or its bus riders.

LittleJazzyP · 01-10-2012, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gobrien

Fireweed Lane has two schools located on it-my kids went to one of them-and the sidewalks weren't ever plowed, creating a big hazard for the kids who had to walk. There would be big boulders of ice scraped off of the roads. It was so bad, one young man started a Facebook page against the mayor. The cross street-Denali-always had plowed sidewalks. It was the same trying to walk on the sidewalks of Northern Lights Blvd and Benson. Anchorage really does not seem to care about pedestrian safety, or its bus riders.

This. This, this, this.

Not only are many of the sidewalks not cleared, they are where snow plowed from the street ends up. The bus stop outside my office has a bench - you cannot see it, because it is buried in snow. It is not just a matter of walking in deep snow on the sidewalk, because it isn't just snow, it's big frozen chunks that you could trip over or step on and break your ankle. There are several places here where pedestrians have no choice but to walk in the street. Big fun during morning rush hour.

Part of the problem is that some of the roads, including that one, are maintained by the state. At least, the state maintains the side with the buried bus stop. They did clear it once, about a week after I called and griped. I guess it's time to call again.

Glitch · 01-10-2012, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsgis

I just wanted to get a sense of how you old timers/sourdoughs think about the amount of snowfall we have had in the Anchorage area (or other places, like Cordova - where the National Guard has been called in) this winter. Do you think this is extraordinary, or is the snow just catching up with us after having had a few easy winters the last few years?

And another semi-related question - Do all snow plough drivers in AK go to the same school of lets-win-the-block-the-driveway-contest to get qualified for operators certification? Assuming there is one? I live in Eagle River, all too often I have returned to the house after work to find a +2ft berm blocking my driveway that was frozen solid. It takes me an hour to hack it out before I can pull in - but what the hey, I guess I need the exercise.

I have experienced 12 consecutive winters in Anchorage and 8 consecutive winters in the Valley, and I still have no idea what an "average" winter is like.

Every winter has been different, from the amount of snow that has fallen, to when the Chinook Winds blow, to the temperature. During my first winter in Anchorage in 1991-1992 we got 128" of snow, almost breaking the record of 132" set in the 1950s. Other winters it has not snowed (and stuck to the ground) until as late as mid-December. During yet another winter in the late 1990s Anchorage, Kentucky, got more snow than Anchorage, Alaska.

So after twenty winters in Alaska, I have absolutely no clue what an "average" winter is like.

I do not try to look for any single cause, because invariably there will be numerous reasons why we are experiencing more snow or different temperatures this year when compared to other years. I merely accept the fact that, as usual, Alaska wants to keep me guessing .

Viking Tech Solutions · 01-10-2012, 01:51 PM

I remember being a little kid, and when the driveway had been cleared with the snow blower, the perfect vertical sides were GREAT for snow caves. Now that being said I realize it would have taken significantly less snow back then, but it would have taken a LOT more than what we have had in quite a while.

For those of you wondering about the snow plows, it's been pretty bad in the valley as well. I almost think that all the plow drivers have a 9 to 5 job in addition to their plowing, because it seems like they aren't out until 6 or 7pm, regardless of how much snow falls during the day. I went to a customers house once and thought I was going to get stuck on the side road in (which is not a super small gravel road, it leads to a LOT of offshoot roads full of neighborhoods) and probably would have if not for the fact that there were tracks packed by all the traffic. Even on the main roads my Subaru was plowing the center pile on a semi-regular basis.

Nephler · 01-10-2012, 05:06 PM

I have to agree, the plowing in Anchorage and around Wasilla sucks. There is no excuse for not being out 24/7 during storms. They should be working 24 hours a day when there is that much snow. Granted, this year here in N MI has been very lame, but in most years we get much much more snow than ANC or Wasilla/Plamer and there is never the issues seen there.

It could be that the monies aren't allocated correctly, but come on.