Even by Alaska standards, there's a lot of snow this winter. So much snow has fallen—so far, more than 8.5 feet—that roofs on commercial buildings are collapsing around Anchorage and officials are urging residents to break out their shovels to avoid a similar fate at home. Over the weekend, there was nearly 16 more inches of snowfall, pushing Alaska's largest city past the 100-inch mark earlier than at any other time in its history. The city is well on track to break its all-time record of 134.5 inches, reports the AP. Now, even winter-savvy Anchorage residents are getting fed up with the snow-filled streets and sidewalks, constant shoveling, and six days of pandemic-era remote learning. It's already in the record books with this year's snowfall, as the eighth snowiest winter yet, with a lot of time left this season.
"It's miserable," said Tamera Flores, a teacher shoveling her driveway as the snow towered over her head. "It's a pandemic of snow." Last year, 107.9 inches fell on Anchorage, making this only the second time the city has had back-to-back years of 100-plus inches of snow since the winters of 1954-55 and 1955-56. This year, the roofs of three commercial structures collapsed under loads of heavy snow. The city last week issued guidance urging people to remove snow from their home roofs. Officials said there were snow loads of more than 30 pounds per square foot. "That is a lot of weight," the notice said. A home with 1,500 square feet of roof would be supporting about 45,000 pounds, or "about eight full-size light-duty pickup trucks."
Some fun has come from a whole lot of snow. The deluge prompted one Anchorage homeowner to erect a three-tiered snowman standing over 20 feet tall. Snowzilla, as it's named, has drawn people to snap photos. But last week, Anchorage had below-zero temperatures overnight for seven days, and a return to bitter cold is likely on tap later this week, with temps possibly dropping into the minus 10s. "This winter is definitely rough, but us Alaskans are definitely built different," Damon Fitts said as he shoveled his driveway. "We can handle 100 inches of snow and still make it to work on time. We can put up with a lot."
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