Buffalo Soapstone

Multiple avalanches have closed Hatcher Pass Road in Alaska due to heavy wet snowfall, with officials forecasting several days of clearance work.

Unusual weather conditions, including warming temperatures and increased rainfall, forced multiple Southcentral Alaska ski areas to close, while others faced high winds and heavy snow, highlighting a challenging winter for ski operations and backcountry travel.

Hatcher Pass Road is closed at mile 14 due to high avalanche danger from heavy wet snow, with closures expected to last into the weekend, affecting snowmachining trails and Hatcher Pass Lodge.

A Houston man was injured by a moose near his home, an unusual event linked to increased moose aggression due to harsh winter conditions.

Eklutna Lake Valley experienced an unusually high temperature of 54.7 °F, surpassing Anchorage's all-time February record, likely due to strong southeast winds affecting the region.

Two individuals died in separate fires in Mat-Su, with one victim found outside his home after escaping the blaze, potentially succumbing to extreme cold.

Mat-Su schools will be closed Tuesday due to a blizzard causing power outages and hazardous driving conditions.

A winter storm in Anchorage and Mat-Su, Alaska has caused closures of state offices, schools, and bus services, with reports of stranded vehicles and accidents, and up to a foot of snow expected in some areas.

The hind of the moose was also covered with flies.

Alaska is one of the only places in the world where peony flowers grow in the summer months. But the unusually cold, wet weather this year is delaying the blooms by weeks.

Open water in February.

Light rain is expected to fall across much of the region Tuesday, with a storm possibly bringing more rain to Anchorage on Wednesday.

More than 1,000 domestic poultry and hundreds of wild birds have died or needed to be euthanized in the state since early spring. Since the first case of a deadly strain of avian flu was detected in Alaska in May, more than 1,000 domestic poultry and hundreds of wild birds have died or needed to be euthanized.

It’s not often that Southcentral Alaska residents wake to thunder in the middle of the night. But what forecasters are calling an unusual storm moved from the Talkeetna Mountains into the Matanuska Valley and then Anchorage and south to the Kenai Peninsula from Wednesday night into Thursday morning. At least one lightning-caused structure fire was reported.

State Veterinarian Dr. Robert Gerlach says the Mat-Su case confirms that migrating birds have brought avian influenza to Alaska.

Extreme winds and cold temperatures have affected the areas. At one point over the weekend, 20,000 households in Mat-Su lost power. 

The Matanuska Experiment Farm in Palmer says they got 1 1/8" of rain on Saturday. I think we got more than that, but based on their measurements I would revise my estimate down to 1 1/2 to 2 inches on Saturday.

"We had never before observed a species of the order Diptera, aside from the mosquitos present every year. Around the middle of September this year, however, there was a large influx of houseflies into our home."

Red currant leaf consumption by something was observed by my supervisor while walking along a salmon stream.

A contractor tore down six structures in the past few weeks, part of a process to remove erosion-threatened places that began almost a decade ago.