FAIRBANKS - The Fairbanks area should receive 4 to 8 inches of snow through Thursday evening as a strong storm to the west draws moist air across the Interior, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm is “probably one of the strongest we’ve seen in many years, if not decades,” said Stephen Kearney, meteorologist intern with the service’s Fairbanks office.

Air flowing across the Interior toward the storm’s low pressure center carries moisture primarily from the Gulf of Alaska, he said. That moisture began falling as snow Wednesday afternoon, with 1 to 3 inches expected to accumulate Wednesday. An additional 1 to 2 inches were expected overnight, followed by 2 to 3 more inches today. The snow should taper off Friday.

The storm, which is moving eastward across northwestern Alaska, created extremely low air pressure readings over the Seward Peninsula on Wednesday morning, Kearney said.

“It’s such a deep system that it’s basically pulling all the air in from everywhere,” Kearney said.

That air is producing high winds across western and northern Alaska.

Coastal areas were reporting winds of 35 to 45 miles per hour Wednesday afternoon. Driving snow reduced visibility to a quarter-mile in places, Kearney said. The weather service Web site predicted waves up to 20 feet in the central Bering Sea west of Nome.

Winds were calmer in the Interior, but Fairbanks could get “a little breezy,” Kearney said. The village of Tanana, 125 miles west of Fairbanks, reported gusts up to 23 mph Wednesday.

The windy weather to the south has yet to significantly impact air traffic at Fairbanks International Airport, either because of flight cancelations or planes being diverted here from Anchorage, airport spokeswoman Angela Spear said.

The Fairbanks airport received five flights that were Anchorage bound, but by 6:30 p.m. those flights had resumed their destination.

“But we’re definitely ready” if the need to accept more flights arises, she said.

Kearney said Fairbanks can expect cold weather after the storm has passed. Temperatures near 10 below are expected Saturday night, falling to near 20 below by Monday night. “But that’s how a storm system works. You’ve got to have cold right behind it,” he said.