You won’t get a true idea of heating and electric use until you rent in winter and summer.

My question is this--if a winter storm made it impossible to access our STR, would trip insurance generally cover that?

Still; I'm guessing quite a few landlords thought they could not evict and held off on doing so and are now gearing up for these.I did one in the winter of 2020-21 and the entire process took about 2 1/2 months; longer than usual but due more to the usual slow down because of the Christmas holidays than anything else. 

<--(Watch that).(5) Can you get all of your needed trades locally and are they available for work, or are they backed up on other jobs.(6) Is this an area the locals will want to live in, or is it "Out in the woods", no snow plows in the winter, bears sitting next to your car in the morning.btw..the UP is a Beautiful place!

Finding rentals in the winter in AK isn't easy so it allowed her to move come the spring if she chose to but also allowed me to find a new tenant in the spring/summer months if it came down to it.

Typically, winter months are the longest and your lease should reflect that.

Heating costs go up in winter, as does electric due to the reduced natural light and people being indoors more.

It's also the dead of winter time so there's less people walking properties.

My Idea was to live there to escape NE winters and rent it out in the future after 1 year.  

It is a tight market for rentals despite being winter, be patient and a better candidate will come along.