Snow expected tonight at Atigun Pass, the high point of the Dalton Highway

Snow is expected at Atigun Pass on the Dalton Highway this evening, the National Weather Service in Fairbanks said in a special weather statement covering the Central Brooks Range.

Rain turns to snow tonight in the eastern Brooks Range and continues through Wednesday. Forecasters expect 1 to 3 inches at Atigun Pass, 3 to 6 inches on mountain peaks and an inch or less at Anaktuvuk Pass.

Because rain comes first, the snow will struggle to accumulate right away, with minor accumulation by Wednesday morning. A break Wednesday afternoon may let some of it melt before snow returns that evening, easing to showers Thursday morning.

Atigun Pass sits at milepost 244 of the Dalton Highway, at 4,739 feet, the highest point on the road. It is where the highway crosses the Continental Divide. South of the pass, rivers run toward the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. North of it, they run to the Arctic Ocean.

The Bureau of Land Management's guide to the pass says storms can drop snow there even in June and July, and its Dalton Highway guide notes that snow typically begins in the Brooks Range by late August or early September.

The Dalton runs more than 400 miles and is the primary supply route to Deadhorse and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. It also carries hunters north into fall seasons.