Warm weather to continue throughout this week

The warm, wet weather that began last week is likely to continue through the weekend.  Initially, the Anchorage Forecast Office of the National Weather Service predicted that weather patterns could get back to normal early this week.  When asked on Tuesday what changed, the forecaster on duty said the issue is that nothing has changed.  A high pressure system is keeping the jetstream where it is, pulling warm, moist air from the Pacific into Alaska and sending arctic air into the lower 48.  That is resulting in another winter storm on the east coast, with snow as far south as Washington, D.C.

Temperatures this week are forecast to get as high as forty-five degrees, with alternating rain and snow possible up until Sunday.  The resulting slick conditions could make travel difficult.

Vehicle travel is not the only means of transport being affected, however. The Northern Lights 300, a dogsled race scheduled to begin on Friday, has not been canceled, but twenty of the fifty registered teams had dropped out by Tuesday afternoon.  The race is scheduled to run from Big Lake to Finger Lake and back.