Denali receives a foot of snow in mid-winter storm. Interior areas, including Fairbanks, also received high amounts of snow.
A storm that started Sunday and largely tailed off by Monday afternoon had dropped nearly 17 inches on the city by evening to establish the new seasonal snowfall total, according to the National Weather Service. The storm closed schools in Anchorage and Mat-Su on Monday, and contributed to a fatal collision on the Parks Highway.
A commercial building's roof in South Anchorage collapsed due to heavy snow loads and potential design flaws in older wooden truss systems, prompting officials to advise building owners to clear roofs and assess structural safety.
While Northwest Arctic residents encounter bears year-round, such sightings are not common in Kotzebue this time of year, Cantine said. Charlie Henry Jr., an Elder from Kotzebue, agreed: “That is so strange — brown bear in the middle part of the coldest months.”
A power line fell on a car in Portland, killing three people and injuring a baby during an ice storm that turned roads and mountain highways treacherous in the Pacific Northwest.
Forecasters say they are expecting significant coastal erosion from Utqiagvik to Unalakleet from the second severe-weather event to hit the region in three weeks.
Drained lake basins make up more than half of the Arctic coastal plain, but the complete drainage of a lake is rarely witnessed by people.
Michael Hamilton, who worked at Valdez Heli-Ski Guides, died Monday in one of numerous avalanches that have been occurring in the Southcentral Alaska backcountry recently. Several recent large wet slab avalanches reported throughout the Chugach are believed to be connected to a buried crust that formed around late October, she said. A warm storm system last week also weakened the snowpack because it added weight and heat.
Two villages along the Lower Yukon River have begun evacuating their most vulnerable residents from a tundra fire.The fire late Thursday was burning less than eight miles from St Mary’s and nearby Pitkas Point, and wind continues spreading the flames closer to the villages with a combined population of over 700 people. Yute Commuter Service is sending all its planes to St. Mary’s to evacuate residents, and Grant Aviation is prepared to assist.
Lytton, British Columbia, broke successive Canadian heat records early this week, with temperatures peaking at 121 degrees on Tuesday. Then the fires swept in.
The Tsunami Warning Center recorded waves of less than 1 foot above normal as a result of the earthquake.
The 61-year-old man was flown to an Anchorage hospital for treatment of his injuries, troopers said.
The storm brought winds up to 40 mph to communities from Wainwright to Kaktovik, weather officials said. High waves damaged a road in Utqiagvik, affecting around five houses, residents reported.
Earlier on Monday, Maniilaq Association notified Kotzebue residents about the musk ox in a Facebook post, saying that the animal was “roaming around the Kotzebue area, last sighted near ‘old’ teacher housing on the lagoon.” Health officials asked residents to not approach or agitate the animal and to keep their dogs under control.
The second-worst flood on record in the Interior Alaska community of Manley Hot Springs began to recede on Sunday, but dozens of residents were displaced and cut off from power. Flooding is also reported in Sleetmute, Red Devil and Georgetown on the Kuskokwim River and Circle on the Yukon River.
Oil from a nearby fuel container leaked through the water system in the lake most likely due to heavy rains of the past month. Cleanup efforts were ongoing this week. It’s not clear when the park will reopen.
Auto shops are seeing more business because of damaged tires, and drivers are often inching through a messy maze of bad road conditions. Road crews are making headway but still catching up from unfavorable weather last month.
Rescue teams raced into Vermont on Monday after heavy rain drenched parts of the Northeast, washing out roads, forcing evacuations and halting some airline travel. One person was killed in New York as she was trying to leave her home. Officials say the storm has already wrought tens of millions of dollars in damage.
After he lost the trail, Jeff King stopped his dog team and draped his sleeping bag over his head to block the battering wind and blowing snow. He was somewhere between the villages of Ambler and Shungnak in the Kobuk 440 Sled Dog Race. Conditions ranged from howling to furious. King lay down with his team. He cuddled a dog named Twister and tried to sleep. That’s when a flaw in the plan rattled his bones. The work of getting there had caused him to sweat, dampness worsened by blowing snow that found its way inside his clothing.
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.
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