Anchorage and Mat-Su schools closed as strong winds and icy roads persist

UPDATE 7:20 a.m. Tuesday:

The National Weather Service has extended a winter weather advisory for rain on ice until 10 a.m. Tuesday as record warmth Monday led to dangerously slick conditions on side roads, parking lots and sidewalks. The agency measured 42 degrees in Anchorage on Monday, a degree warmer than the prior record of 41 degrees set in 2014.

People Mover buses were operating Tuesday but officials warned of delays due to weather and road conditions. The University of Alaska Anchorage’s campus was closed Tuesday; events at the Alaska Airlines Center are not impacted by the weather closure.

UPDATE 4:30 a.m. Tuesday:

All Anchorage and Mat-Su schools will be closed Tuesday due to continuing poor weather and road conditions, the school districts announced around 4:30 a.m.

In Anchorage, rental facilities will be open for community groups and activities, the district said.

Mat-Su officials said a decision on after-school activities Tuesday will be made by noon.

Schools in the central Kenai Peninsula Borough School District (Nikiski to Sterling to Tustumena) were placed on a two-hour delay for opening, officials said.

Monday story:

A warmer weather system moving into Southcentral Alaska was making for treacherously slick roads and expected to bring high winds to parts of Anchorage and Mat-Su through Tuesday morning.

The strongest winds, with some gusts upwards of 100 mph, were expected near Portage, according to a warning issued by the National Weather Service in effect from 3 p.m. Monday until 6 a.m. Tuesday. Winds of 35 to 55 mph with gusts up to 85 mph were forecast for the Anchorage Hillside and Turnagain Arm.

A warning for the Matanuska Valley predicted winds of 35 to 55 mph, with gusts up to 75.

The Anchorage School District canceled after-school activities Monday due to the anticipated winds and hazardous road conditions. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District also canceled after-school activities at all schools and closed Glacier View School Monday due to hazardous weather.

By midafternoon Monday, People Mover suspended all bus service due to “extreme ice buildup” and dangerous road conditions in Anchorage.

Anchorage police said they had logged 57 crashes or collisions, 10 involving injuries, by the time the afternoon commute got underway just before 5 p.m.

The weather service issued a winter weather advisory for Anchorage, Indian, Eagle River, Eklutna, Palmer, Wasilla, Sutton and Chickaloon warning of the potential for dangerous roads. Precipitation was expected to fall steadily as rain or freezing rain until early Tuesday, meteorologist Carson Jones said.

“Temperatures are going to be above freezing probably for most of the rain, but our roads are still frozen, so that’s the main concern,” he said. “Even though the temperatures are probably going to be in the mid-30s to 40s, we were just near zero for the last week, so the rain might just freeze onto the roadways — maybe not the main roads, but the neighborhoods will be pretty bad.”

[Related: One of Anchorage’s least-snowy Decembers on record makes for idle plows and happy skaters]

By afternoon, the weather service said they had received dozens of reports of rain freezing on roads from the Kenai Peninsula, north through Anchorage, and into Mat-Su, with temperatures ranging from 28 to 40 degrees. Moderate to heavy snow was reported on the Anchorage Hillside, though rain was also expected to return there later in the day, the agency said.

Eklutna Lake Road was closed at the Old Glenn Highway exit Monday afternoon due to “extreme ice buildup and unsafe road conditions,” police said. There was no estimate for when the road would reopen. Hundreds of people visited Eklutna Lake over the weekend to skate on smooth, clear ice. By Monday afternoon, reports on social media described the road to the lake itself as a skating rink, with multiple cars in the ditch.

Anchorage is forecast to receive only a few tenths of an inch of rain, but 2 to 4 inches could fall south of Girdwood toward Seward, Jones said.

The Seward Highway was icy by Monday morning. A semi slid from the road and into a pond late Sunday near Portage, triggering a lengthy road closure Monday morning as a tow truck removed it.

The weather service warned that strong winds could cause power outages and make driving difficult.

Winds are predicted to be strongest near Portage, where gusts could reach up to 100 mph, the wind warning said. Sustained east and southeast winds of 35 to 55 mph, with gusts from 75 to 85 mph, are forecast for Turnagain Arm, the Hillside and Matanuska Valley.

A downed tree damaged an electrical pole in Girdwood around 2 p.m., leaving roughly 500 Chugach Electric Association members without power, the cooperative said. Alyeska Resort stopped all lift operations on Monday afternoon “due to extreme weather, intense winds and an extended power outage.” The Sitzmark Bar and Grill and the Nordic Spa were also closed.

Around 125 homes or businesses in East Anchorage also lost power just after 2 p.m., according to Chugach Electric.

The changing weather also led to high avalanche danger warnings in Turnagain Pass and near Summit Lake on Monday, according to the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center. Travel in avalanche terrain was not recommended.

The state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities planned to complete avalanche hazard reduction work Tuesday morning on the Seward Highway and announced intermittent delays between Girdwood and Portage.

Rain was expected to return to the area Thursday, although there is a chance that some precipitation could fall as snow, Jones said. Conditions are expected to remain warmer through the weekend, he said.