Too much snow will make the Iditarod exceptionally difficult this year - CNN

The annual sled dog race across Alaska, which is set to start on Saturday, has too much snow.

"An epic amount of snow awaits the mushers this year," said Mark Nordman, the race marshal. Many areas along the route from Anchorage to Nome are deeper than he is tall, he said.

It's not a total surprise. Alaska is in the midst of its coldest winter in 21 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). And Anchorage, where the race starts, just had its 6th snowiest February on record.

Not a single day in the last two weeks has had a high temperature above freezing, so most of that snow hasn't melted.

Although the Iditarod is a snow race, too much can actually be dangerous for the mushers and their dogs making the trek.

In recent years, not enough snow was a problem. Three of the last five years are in Alaska's top 20 Februaries with the least snowfall.

February 2019 was in 20th place, February 2016 was in 12th place, and February 2015 was in 8th place for the least amount of snowfall accumulation.

Typically, the race lasts about nine to 11 days. But the fastest the race has been completed was in 8 days, 3 hours, 40 minutes. That was in 2017, when there wasn't too much snow.

But this year will be a different story, as even more snow is forecast for areas along the route.

While most areas will pick up somewhere between 6-10 inches during the race, there will be isolated higher amounts, as well as reduced visibility along other sections.

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Too much snow will make the Iditarod exceptionally difficult this year - CNN
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