Peninsula snows to give way to rain

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Areas of the Southern Kenai Peninsula reported between 12 to 30 inches of snowfall over the weekend as well as heavy rain showers. Rebecca Duell, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Anchorage says the amount of snowfall will most likely decrease over the next few days.

Downtown Homer on the morning of the 22nd (Photo by Quinton Chandler, KBBI - Homer)
Downtown Homer on the morning of the 22nd (Photo by Quinton Chandler, KBBI – Homer)

 “The temperatures will be warming. They’ll probably hovering in the upper 30’s to low 40’s for most of the Southern Kenai Peninsula. It should mainly be rain showers that we’re going to be seeing. But there could be some snow showers mixed in, especially during the night,” said Duell.

Rain and rising temperatures are predicted to melt the snow and create slippery conditions and there’s an added danger of flooding.

“We will be monitoring the rivers. Right now we don’t have reports of flooding but when you are getting this much melting after this much snow pack it is a situation that tends to [cause] quite a bit of flooding,” said Duell.

On Sunday the Homer Police Department warned area residents not to drive if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. The heavy snow and rain showers have made driving more dangerous than usual. The department reported a sharp rise in accidents over the weekend.

Quinton Chandler is a reporter at KTOO in Juneau.

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