Posted in Alaska December 05, 2016 by

The One Winter Alaskans Will Never, Ever Forget

It’s been a few years since Alaska has seen a winter to remember. Lately, it seems as though we are doing snow dances on a regular basis just to try and pry those soft white flakes out of the sky. Although it’s been warmer than desirable in recent years, this prolific winter that occurred just four years ago back in 2012 will forever be one for the record books.

We’re aware that these uncertain times are limiting many aspects of life as we all practice social and physical distancing. While we’re continuing to feature destinations that make our state wonderful, we don’t expect or encourage you to go check them out immediately. We believe that supporting local attractions is important now more than ever and we hope our articles inspire your future adventures! And on that note, please nominate your favorite local business that could use some love right now: https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/nominate/
The year was 2012 when Alaska saw one of its snowiest and most extreme winters in the state's history.
Pixabay - tpsdave
While an extreme temps and record snowfalls don't usually make the headlines, this winter stood out for many reasons.
Pixabay - Robzor
The town of Bethel saw record lows of -32 which were tied with records set in 1952, 1963 and 1975. A very rare occurrence!
Flickr - Chris Pike
The small northwestern town of Nome saw record breaking temps of -38 degrees.
Wikimedia
The city of Valdez endured a record snowfall of 15.2 inches.
Flickr - Total Heliski
Alaska's 'Golden Heart City' of Fairbanks had many record breaking days with cold weather and nearly 22 days straight of non-stop snow.
Wikimedia
The small town of Galena with a population under 500 residents had a record breaking low of -54 degrees.
Flickr - Joseph
But more so than anywhere else, the small town of Cordova was hit the hardest.
Flickr - Nicholas Shipes
Located on the east side of Prince William Sound, the residents of Cordova saw a winter unlike any other in history during 2012.
Pixabay - Robzor
This isolated coastal community saw a record snowfall of a whopping 18 total inches of snow.
Flickr - Angela
Leading up to the record 18 inch snowfall, the town had recently undergone a storm that brought 42 inches of snow to the area.
Flickr - Joseph
Entire houses were covered in the damp white snow while many structures (including commercial businesses) completely collapsed.
Pixabay - Simon
Everywhere you looked - it was a sea of snow. Plus with no roads leading into Cordova, this storm proved to be quite a setback.
Flickr - Travis
In fact, the snow reached heights of 4 to 5 feet tall in many areas due to snowdrifts.
Flickr - Wonderlane
The tractors and snowplows worked around the clock and still couldn't keep the roads cleared.
Flickr - Wonderlane
Local residents literally had to dig themselves out of their own homes.
Flickr - Kenny MacCarthy
The snowfall was so extreme that an official state of emergency was ordered and Alaska National Guardsmen were transported in to help the community.
Wikimedia

Can you even imagine the aftermath? Talk about devastating! For closer look at how this extreme storm affected residential homes and commercial businesses all around Cordova, check out the great YouTube video below. Your jaw will drop through the floor!

If you thought that was insane, be sure to check out these 26 surprising things you might not expect when moving to Alaska. You’ll also get a kick out of these 20 extremely weird things that only people from Alaska do.