Hottest year ever update: Early snow hits Anchorage; "Didn't last winter's record snowfall just finish melting?"

First snow of season blankets Hillside in Anchorage, Alaska | McClatchy

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — If Anchorage, Alaska's first snowfall Saturday seems a little early, that's because it was.

The average first snowfall in Anchorage isn't until Oct. 17, according to the National Weather Service. The earliest recorded snowfall in the city came Sept. 20, 1947.
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Officially, Upper DeArmoun Road saw the most snow Saturday, with 7 inches measured, the weather service said.
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Others lamented the snow as an unwelcome sign of the cold, darkness and slippery roads to come. The history-making snowfall of last winter - 133.6 inches, breaking a record set in 1955 - was still fresh in many minds. It had apparently been enough to send some people south, for good.

"Didn't last winter's record snowfall just finish melting?" wrote Brenda Whitaker-Kroth on Facebook. "After 40 years of winters in AK, I live in Arizona now just for this reason exactly."
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"It's too early to tell. It's a pretty easy forecast to say it's not going to be as snowy as last winter in Anchorage, since that was the snowiest on record," Ludwig said.

Flashback: Hottest year ever update from Alaska, global warming's ground zero: "doubtful the snow [piles] will be gone by the end of summer"

[Aug. 2012] Alan Czajkowski, director for maintenance and operations with municipality of Anchorage said bulldozers have been going to different snow pile sites around the city to move the snow around in an effort to help it melt faster. He's doubtful the snow will be gone by the end of summer.