The worst winter anyone can remember in Alaska has piled snow so high people can't see out the windows, turned snow-packed roofs into sled runs. The state is having its snowiest winter since 1917, when records started being kept, the Associated Press reports. An incredible 80 inches of snow have fallen since July 1. Compare that to the District’s record-breaking snow of 2009-2010, when the city received 54.9 inches of snow.
Extreme winter weather has left one Alaskan town battling huge snowdrifts and forced another to seek fuel supplies from a Russian tanker. While most of America has gone without much seasonal snow, the state already known for winter is buried in weather that has dumped more than twice as much snow as usual on its largest city, brought out the National Guard and put a run on snow shovels.
In the fishing community of Cordova, more than 172 inches of snow has fallen since November. The Alaska National Guard was called in to help move the snow, and the city is running out of places to put it. Front-end loaders are hauling snow from dump piles to a snow-melting machine. Earlier heavy falls of snow were followed by rain that weighed down the snow, creating dangerous conditions. Some roofs in the town have collapsed or caved in under the weight of up to 7ft of snow.
The US ship, the Healy, is attempting to cut a path through thick ice in the Bering Sea, ahead of the Russian tanker Renda which is carrying 1.3m gallons (4.9m litres) of oil. Shifting ice up to 3ft thick in the area is hindering the process, forcing the ice-breaker to double back to recut the path.
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