The weather pattern, which has beset the area the past couple years, is likely the result of warmer-than-normal waters over the Gulf of Alaska and the northwest Pacific Ocean, he added. Anchorage has had an unseasonably warm stretch of weather this year, with only 1.8 inches of snow being recorded in February, far less than the usual 10 to 11 inches. For the past few weeks, the city has basked in much warmer temperatures as well, which has melted the snow. Unfortunately, the trainloads of snow – shipped in from hundreds of miles away – still isn’t enough.
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Even with the new snow, the ceremonial route through Anchorage will need to be shortened from 11 miles to just three.
Over the past 50 years, wintertime temperatures across Alaska increased by an average of more than 6.3 degrees, primarily due to man-made climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency reports.
According to the Associated Press, the train arrived Thursday and railroad workers dumped the white stuff into shadowed piles at the downtown railroad property. It will then be spread around the start route.
Luckily, the good folks from The Alaska Railroad will be hauling seven freight cars filled with 300 cubic yards of snow in order to help the event begin on time. The fresh, clean snow will supplement the stingy amount of less-than-pristine local stuff left over for the Iditarod and Anchorages yearly winter festival.
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Considered to be the largest and best-known sporting competition in the state, the Iditarod trail covers 1,000 miles of terrain with contenders battling freezing temperatures as they traverse across jagged mountain ranges, frozen rivers, dense forest, and desolate tundras. In total, the race spans more than 1,000 miles of Alaskan wilderness. Last year, the restart had to be moved from Willow to Fairbanks, forcing race organizers to reroute 600 miles of the trail. Temperatures in Alaska are rising faster than those in the rest of the country.
