Concern builds as rain increases weight of snow pack

Juneau’s urban avalanche forecast describes “extreme” danger Saturday evening. Centennial Hall will open as an emergency shelter at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Around Christmas, there were reports of an earthquake and major mountain rockslide in the wilderness near Juneau. But what came first? The earthquake or the slide?

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.

Looking at each snow layer tells a story about the winter.

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.

The torrential rain, exceptional even by Juneau’s standards, comes courtesy of Typhoon Lan, whose remnants have left Asia.