Rainfall in Sitka broke records on Wednesday, and February is shaping up to exceed the month’s typical rainfall by leaps and bounds.
The nearly 3.5 inches at the city’s official monitoring station was a daily record – the most rain that’s fallen on January 21st ever – and also a monthly record – the most rain that has ever fallen in January.
Remnants of Typhoon Bolaven brought the rain from the Pacific. The typhoon has been bringing rain to the Southeast region for days. Ketchikan's one-day record is nearly nine inches, set on Oct. 11, 1977.
With Anchorage schools remote again due to a 17-inch snowfall and strong winds, another storm is hitting Southcentral Alaska, potentially causing power outages as trees fall on electric lines.
Chugach Electric acknowledges the high frequency of winter power outages in Cooper Landing and Moose Pass, attributing them to heavy snowfall and considering solutions like local maintenance crews.
The record was driven in part by a heavy rainstorm that set Kotzebue's single-day precipitation record.
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.
All schools in Anchorage and the Mat-Su Borough are closed Wednesday due to slick roads across the region, as snowfall continues. “This is the heaviest snowfall the Anchorage area has seen in over 20 years,” said state Department of Transportation spokesman Justin Shelby. “Our crews are keeping up as best they can.”
High winds, flooding and landslides caused moderate to severe damage in communities across Southeast Alaska Wednesday, as an atmospheric river stalled over the region and brought record-breaking rain.
The warehouse at 4640 Gambell St. damaged Wednesday is owned by Marten Martensen, the primary owner of the Continental Auto Group in Anchorage. He was part of a group that purchased the property in October 2022 and briefly used it to store around 10,000 tires until last December’s successive snowstorms caused the structure to begin collapsing.
The slides come near the end of an avalanche season experts say is notable both for its heightened danger and lack of deaths.
Two individuals were found deceased in a vehicle on Steese Highway, with recovery delayed by severe weather; no foul play is suspected.
A landslide in Wrangell, Alaska, killed three people, destroyed homes, and left three missing after heavy rainfall triggered the disaster.
Just this month, more than 23 inches of snow have fallen in Anchorage, 17.5 inches above normal. A weekend storm clogged Anchorage streets, creating hazardous road conditions. The Anchorage School District closed school buildings and canceled after-school activities, calling a remote learning day.
A boulder tumbled down the face of Mount Roberts early Wednesday, damaging one side of the Basin Road Trestle’s wooden railing and closing the road. Mattice says slides are more common in the fall, but warm, wet conditions this winter contributed to the rockfall — especially this weekend’s heavy rains.
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.
Road crews say they’re still working to fully carve out the streets and haul snow away, after the city was hit with a trio of major storms this month. Some of Anchorage’s roads are maintained by the state of Alaska, and others by the city.
Anchorage and Mat-Su Borough schools and state offices are closed Thursday as a third major winter storm this month coated the area with snow overnight Wednesday. “In the past 11 days, we’ve had 41.1 inches of snow which is a lot for Anchorage,” Baines said.
The Yukon, Tanana, Koyukuk, Kuskokwim and Susitna basins all have more snowpack than usual — and some are well above normal.
Mat-Su schools will be closed Tuesday due to a blizzard causing power outages and hazardous driving conditions.
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