© Abbey CollinsThe first snowfall hit Haines after a 17-day dry spell.
"It's definitely not a fall pattern for Southeast Alaska," says David Levin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Juneau.
"The string of dry days that we had is probably about just as equally unusual as the snow amounts that we've been seeing," says Levin. "Definitely an unusual October pattern for sure."
Most of the snow fell Sunday into Monday, and downtown Haines recorded over 12 inches. That's following 17 dry days. Last year, the first snow fell on November 3. But Levin says it's not surprising for the first snowfall to come in October.
"But as far as the amounts go it's a little bit out of the ordinary for us to receive this much," says Levin.
Snowfall used to be recorded at the airport. Now it happens downtown, so there's some discrepancy when comparing this snowfall to others historically. But, it can still provide some perspective. Levin says the most snowfall ever recorded in Haines in one day was 15 inches, and that was in 1926. He says 12 or more inches have only been recorded in October about four times. This is one of those times.
Comment: According to local newspaper Excelsior, "In 15 minutes, Zacatecas was blanketed by heavy hailstorm Sunday night, a hailstorm caused the ice reached nearly 50 centimeters" (translated by google).
Other severe hailstorms from around the world this month include:
- Freak hailstorm rips through town in New South Wales, Australia
- Freak hailstorm hits drought stricken Bloemfontein, South Africa
- Mounds of hail pile up after storm pounds Safford, Arizona
It is likely that atmospheric dust loading from increased comet and volcanic activity is contributing to these 'unusual' or 'freak' hailstorms, the cooling effect of which causes ice crystals to form.