Climate of Anchorage

Anchorage, Alaska has a subarctic climate with the code "Dfc" according to the Köppen climate classification due to its short, cool summers. Average daytime summer temperatures range from approximately ; average daytime winter temperatures are about . Anchorage has a frost-free growing season that averages slightly over one hundred days.
Average January low and high temperatures at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (PANC) are with an average winter snowfall of 75.59 inches, or 1.92 meters. Further afield at the Campbell Airstrip is another weather station recording colder night temperatures in both summer and winter.
The weather on any given day and indeed for entire seasons can be very unpredictable. Some winters feature several feet of snow and cold temperatures, while others like that of 1976–77 (in the January of which Anchorage amazingly averaged warmer than Atlanta almost 30 degrees closer to the equator), just a foot or two of snow and frequent thaws, which put dangerous ice on the streets.
On March 17, 2002, there was a storm causing of snow closing schools for the next two days. The storm broke the city record for the most snowfall in a single day. The storm, which started the evening of March 16, easily surpassed the old record of recorded on 28 December and 29 December, 1955. On March 17, were measured by the National Weather Service, topping the old record of set on December 29, 1955.
The 2011–2012 winter had , making it the snowiest winter on record, while the least snowy winter on record was 2014–2015 (). The coldest temperature ever recorded at the original weather station located at Merrill Field on the East end of 5th Avenue was on February 3, 1947.
Due to its proximity to active volcanoes, ash hazards are a significant, though infrequent, occurrence. The most recent notable incident was an August 1992 eruption of Mt. Spurr, which is located west of the city. The eruption deposited about of volcanic ash on the city. The clean-up of ash resulted in excessive demands for water and caused major problems for the Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility.
Summers are typically mild (although cool compared to the contiguous US and even interior Alaska), though it can rain frequently. Average July low and high temperatures are and the hottest reading ever recorded was on July 4, 2019. The average annual precipitation at the airport is .
Because of Anchorage’s high latitude, summer days are very long and winter daylight hours are very short. Anchorage is often cloudy during the winter, which decreases the amount of sunlight experienced by residents.