The slide occurred at a time when forecasters in the region are cautioning backcountry skiers and snowboarders about the potential for warming weather to increase avalanche risk.
Ketchikan officials say there’s “currently no danger of dam failure” but noted that a flood advisory is in place through Sunday.
Rockfall along the Seward Highway near Beluga Point has been happening since wind and rain battered the area earlier this week.
“It was a beautiful event that we were lucky to have survived,” Andrew Hooper said.
A storm that hit Southcentral Alaska on Saturday night led to flooding in Girdwood, a landslide on the Sterling Highway and left thousands of homes without power throughout the region on Sunday morning. More than a foot of rain fell in Girdwood by Sunday.
No one was injured when a car hit a 6-foot-by-8-foot rock that fell from cliffs next to the Seward Highway late Wednesday.
Class 2 avalanche in Hatcher Pass closed down a section of the road between Mile 14 and 16. The nonprofit Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center warned that conditions in the area were dangerous and asked that people avoid the Archangel Road trail nearby.
Fairbanks resident Erin Lee, 40, was transported to Mat-Su Regional Hospital via helicopter where she was pronounced dead, according to the statement.
Juneau’s urban avalanche forecast describes “extreme” danger Saturday evening. Centennial Hall will open as an emergency shelter at 8 p.m. Saturday.
The highway closed after rocks covered the northbound lane at mile 111, near McHugh Creek. A second rock slide was reported near mile 106.5.
Nearly 12 inches of rain fell on the town of Pelican in 48 hours, and all-time records were set in Juneau, Skagway, Haines, Petersburg and Ketchikan. The City of Haines is sending alerts about the immediate danger of landslides.
Jeffrey Cheng, 33, died in the slide. One of his friends managed to hold on to a tree as waves of avalanche debris washed over his head. The third member of their group wasn’t caught.
The rapid retreat of Barry Glacier, 28 miles northeast of Whittier, could release millions of tons of rock into Harriman Ford and generate a large tsunami in Prince William Sound, according to Alaska's top geologist.
City park staff have set up barriers in hopes of encouraging passersby to stay far away. Potential fixes could include putting up a wall and relocating the bike path or road.
Authorities warned that drivers should use caution in the area due to the potential for additional rockslides.
Transportation engineers moved the road to avoid a giant mass of frozen debris sliding downhill.
State transportation workers found wet ground may have contributed to the small landslide, despite the lack of recent rain.
DOT spokesperson Shannon McCarthy said the weather this week -- alternately freezing and thawing -- was likely the culprit.
Temperatures in the area were unseasonably high last week, reaching into the mid-40s, according to the National Weather Service. Then temperatures dropped below freezing Sunday and into Monday morning. "There's a lot of water flowing underground in this area," McCarthy said. The freeze-thaw "caused some instability and that made it slide."
Areas of the Southeast Alaska city “received between 3 and 7 inches of rain” in 24 hours over the weekend. The sodden ground caused mudslides in some areas, and wrecked roads and ditches around John Street and Peters Lane in Douglas.
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