The Project: Though rain and snow are standard elements of Alaska’s weather patterns, rain-on-snow events present unique hazards to both infrastructure and wildlife. Icing on the surface of deep snow can hinder the ability of wildlife to access sources of food under the snow, thus changing the subsistence systems of both the animals and the communities which rely on them.  Rain-on-snow events produce icing that can also make roadways and other infrastructure dangerous for long periods of time in Alaska, and often present hazardous conditions. Through the Alaska CASC supported project “Developing High Resolution Climate Data for Alaska”, University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists and partners used climate modeling downscaling techniques to create a new dataset to help resource managers better understand the past and future of rain-on-snow events. The researchers’ findings were first published in the article “Assessment of Alaska Rain-on-Snow Events Using Dynamical Downscaling” in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology.  

The Data: The data suggest that an increasing frequency of rain-on-snow events can be expected in northern and interior areas of Alaska, while southern coastal regions (where these events are currently most common) are likely to see a decline in frequency. Shifts in temperature rather than shifts in precipitation patterns  are the presumed primary cause of these changes.

Applications: The data can now be accessed and utilized by other researchers who study extreme climate events as well as decision-makers across the state to plan for future climate conditions in Alaska.

The data, which covers the entire state of Alaska, is now available through the Scenarios Network for Alaska and Arctic Planning’s data portal.

This news announcement was written by Gina Fiorile, National CASC Science Communication Specialist.