By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Even by Alaska standards, there is a lot of snow this winter.
So much snow has fallen — so far, more than 8.7 feet (2.65 meters) — 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. As of Tuesday morning, the three-day storm had dropped nearly 17 more inches (43 centimeters) of snowfall, pushing Alaska’s largest city past the 100-inch (254-centimeters) 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 (342 centimeters).
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 is already in the record books with this year’s snowfall, at eighth snowiest with a lot of time left this season.
“It’s miserable,” said Tamera Flores, an elementary school teacher shoveling her driveway on Monday, as the snow pile towered over her head. “It’s a pandemic of snow.”
Last year, 107.9 inches (274 centimeters) fell on Anchorage, making this only the second time the city has had back-to-back years of 100-plus inches (254-plus centimeters) 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. Last year, 16 buildings had roofs collapse, with one person killed at a gym.
