El Niño and Alaska winters
In Anchorage, December through February precipitation averaged 1.98 inches during the 7 winters since 1950 that were strong El Niños, compared with 2.94 inches in other winters. 1 of the 7 strong winters finished above that other-winter average. Season snowfall at Anchorage averaged 62.9 inches during the 7 winters since 1950 that were strong El Niños, compared with 75.6 inches in other winters; 2 of the 7 strong winters finished above that other-winter average. In Anchorage, the winter temperature difference between strong El Niño winters and other winters was within half a degree Fahrenheit.
El Niño winter precipitation in Alaska
| City | Strong average | Other average | Change | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage | 1.98 in | 2.94 in | -33% | 1 of 7 |
Station figures come from GHCN-Daily (NOAA NCEI); strong winters are classified from CPC's RONI; winters cover 1950-51 through 2025-26.
El Niño snowfall in Alaska
| City | Strong average | Other average | Change | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage | 62.9 in | 75.6 in | -17% | 2 of 7 |
El Niño winter temperature in Alaska
| City | Strong average | Other average | Difference (F) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage | 17.3°F | 17.6°F | -0.4°F |
Strong El Niño winters in Alaska, winter by winter
| City | 1957-58 | 1965-66 | 1972-73 | 1982-83 | 1991-92 | 1997-98 | 2015-16 | Other average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage | 1.48 | 2.87 | 1.56 | 0.56 | 4.06 | 2.51 | 0.83 | 2.94 |
Station figures come from GHCN-Daily (NOAA NCEI); strong winters are classified from CPC's RONI; winters cover 1950-51 through 2025-26.
White Christmas odds during El Niño years, Alaska
| City | Strong years | Other years |
|---|---|---|
| Anchorage | 100% | 89% |
Under 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright attaches to the government-produced figures on this page, including reports, alerts, station observations, and normals, which were created by the National Weather Service and other NOAA offices. The notice that 17 U.S.C. 403 requires appears in this sentence. It does not imply endorsement by or affiliation with those agencies. See: Data sources and attribution.
How these figures work
Strong El Niño winters here are 1957-58, 1965-66, 1972-73, 1982-83, 1991-92, 1997-98, 2015-16, classified by the Relative Oceanic Niño Index. Each city is compared against its own station record: those strong winters against every other winter since 1950. A city appears after its station reports 3 or more strong winters and 10 or more other winters.