Alaskans are taking advantage of rare ice skating conditions on alpine lakes in Chugach State Park, with hundreds of people hiking into the backcountry to skate on smooth ice in the shadow of iconic peaks.

The Hatcher Pass Road in Alaska has opened for the summer season, but deep snow remains at higher elevations, with crews spending the last week digging out the road over the pass before opening it.

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.

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.

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.

Five people stayed overnight Friday on Ruth Glacier. On Saturday, guides led them to a shelter about 3.5 miles away, A historic storm dropped record amounts of snow throughout Interior Alaska during the last few days..

Environment Canada said the weather system shattered more than 100 heat records across British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon and Northwest Territories.

The first half of June was Anchorage’s windiest in more than 50 years, the result of an unusually stormy spring in Alaska.

Forecasters say they are measuring near-record moisture in a storm system expected to bring heavy rain and wind to the region, ramping up Friday night and into Saturday.

The average temperature in July was 48.4 degrees — 6.7 degrees above normal, with 11 hot days in a row. Such extreme warmth can accelerate the greening and permafrost thaw on the North Slope.

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.

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.

“It’s been hot, it’s been dry, and it’s been windy. And those winds gusts of 20 miles per hour, it’s kind of funneled through the Andreafsky River drainage,” said Beth Ipsen. Federal entities sent in more firefighters this week, and some residents are thinking about preparing their go-bags.

An unusually strong storm for this time of year was bringing rain and heavy winds to parts of Southcentral Alaska on Sunday.

January has so far been colder than average and the trend is expected to continue, breaking the 22-month trend of consecutively warmer-than-normal monthly temperatures.

The United States’ northernmost city plummeted to a bone-chilling minus 20 degrees Wednesday morning, beating out the previous daily record set in 1973.

August 9, 2022 Borough officials said multiple roads were closed Tuesday and more were being monitored after several days of rain.

Anchorage saw temperatures spike above 60 degrees every day in June for the first time in recorded history. The city also experienced near record low precipitation: Only 1/10 of an inch of rain fell the entire month.

A storm bringing strong wind, rain and snow to Southcentral Alaska on Tuesday caused power outages from Anchorage to Whittier and damaged some homes on the Anchorage Hillside. The weather service reported a peak gust of 133 mph on Sunburst mountain on the western Kenai Peninsula.

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.