Anchorage still waiting for snow

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) -- Friday should have been one of the busiest days of the season at Hilltop Ski Area in south Anchorage, Alaska, but the slope is covered with dried grass.

For the first time in 15 years, according to the National Weather Service, Anchorage experienced a snowless Thanksgiving. Unusual storm patterns in the Bering Sea have sent warm air over Alaska's largest city, keeping snow away.

"It is uncommon," said David Vonderheide, spokesman for the National Weather Service. "Looking at the records, there has been only one other Thanksgiving in Anchorage when there was no snow on the ground."

This snowless November is approaching a record, Vonderheide said. In 1986, Anchorage went until November 29 without an inch of season-lasting snow, the longest wait on record, he said.

And temperatures this month have been 9 degrees Fahrenheit over average, shooting up into the mid-40s and even higher on some days, he said. That is a "pretty significant departure."

The temperatures have made it impossible for workers at Hilltop to make the artificial snow cover that the ski area depends on in low-snow times, said Steve Remme, the area's chief executive.

At Alaska's main ski area, Alyeska Ski Resort in Girdwood, officials have pushed back its scheduled start date to next week, but are making no promises.

There is snow on the mountain's upper reaches, but the bottom is bare, according to the resort. Although it snowed at the top Thursday, "we are still being tormented by the warm temperatures and rain at mid- and lower elevations," the resort's recorded snow report said Friday.

The lack of snow has allowed Anchorage municipal crews to get a jump start on pothole repair -- usually a task that starts in the spring -- and to save money normally used for emergency snow removal.

But skiers, snowmobilers, dog mushers and other outdoor enthusiasts have been disappointed by the season so far.

Vonderheide said the unseasonable warmth is due to end soon. Cold air over Siberia has begun to move eastward to Alaska, and a storm system is moving up through Prince William Sound, the usual winter pattern, he said.

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