I googled the location, expecting it to be in the far north of Alaska, given the description. But it's just southeast of Anchorage. Is the weather really that much worse?
The Army actually built Whittier during WWII because it was a good deepwater port (ironically, Anchorage has huge tides that make it a horrible anchorage) that was always overcast, making it hard, they thought, for the Japanese to bomb.
As a side note, Whittier has a huge tsunami risk, not from typical undersea earthquakes but because the mountainside on the north side of Whittier Sound is unstable and some very big blocks of rock (100s of m) are slowly breaking off from the bedrock. If (when) these fall, they could create a pretty massive wave that could devastate the town. [1]
[1]: http://137.229.113.30/webpubs/dggs/ri/text/ri2011_007a.pdf
edit: added tsunami info
"Anchorage climate similar to northern Midwest Now let’s talk about the winters. The truth is, they aren’t as bad as myth would have it. Anchorage actually has a warmer climate than other cold-weather cities like Chicago or Minneapolis because it’s on the ocean. Southeast Alaska stays relatively warm for the same reason. The Interior, however, does get very cold. Without the regulating influence of the ocean, temperatures in interior locations like Fairbanks can drop to minus-30 for weeks at a time (though it’s a dry cold, which doesn’t feel as cold as it sounds). Just remember that temperature is microclimate in Alaska. No matter where you are, a one- or two-hour drive in any direction can result in a 30-degree temperature change."
"Abundant snow creates winter wonderland Likewise, there’s a large variation in snowfall across the state. An average of 79 inches of snow falls on Anchorage every year (the same amount as Burlington, Vermont). But Talkeetna, only two hours north, gets considerably more snow due to the higher elevation, and Alyeska — just an hour from Anchorage — receives an average of 178 inches annually!"