Anchorage breaks seasonal snowfall record
8 April 2012 (CNN) – While winter is a distant memory for most Americans, it continues unabated in Anchorage, Alaska — where a new bout of precipitation this weekend helped the city break its record for seasonal snowfall, at more than 133 inches (3.38 meters).
Some 3.4 inches of snow — and counting — had fallen as of 4 p.m. (8 p.m. ET) Saturday in Anchorage, according to the National Weather Service.
That brought the seasonal total for the city to 133.6 inches — breaking the record of 132.6 inches, set in 1954-1955.
And with snow continuing to fall into early Sunday morning, the figure promises to get even larger. […] While snow is nothing new to Alaskans, this year’s record haul in Anchorage is notable given that the average seasonal snowfall is 74.5 inches.
And it’s also striking considering that, elsewhere in the United States, this past winter was known more for its warmth than its white stuff.
Across the United States, the 2011-2012 winter season was the fourth warmest ever recorded, according to the National Climatic Data Center. […] Other record-setters in the state include Haines, a community about 92 miles north of Juneau that saw about 360 inches of snow for the 2011-2012 season — smashing the previous record of 309 inches set five years ago, according to the weather service.
