Southeast Alaska has dropped into drought conditions off and on for the past two or more years. Spring rains and snow melt helped refill lakes and reservoirs but a dry, hot July pushed the southern Panhandle into a deeper deficit.
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.
One reading on the Hillside clocked winds reaching 91 miles per hour. The day saw reports of property damage, road closures and downed power lines.LEO Note: According to Rick Thoman of NWS, these are unusually high winds for April.
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.
Lightning is unusual in a city that, according to the National Weather Service, sees fewer than two thunderstorms a year. It was the first time the power company had seen a lightning-related power outage in 15 years.
A wind gust of 113 mph was recorded Monday morning along the Seward Highway near Potter Marsh. Above-freezing temperatures are making side streets icy.
Anchorage sidewalks were slick with ice and the roads were full of puddles because of unseasonably high temperatures.By mid morning the temperature had reached 46 degrees.
While Anchorage was getting hammered by wind, snow was piling up in the Susitna Valley — with a whopping 4 feet of snow at Hatcher Pass, according to a rough estimate.
Seismologists called the quake the most significant in the state’s largest city since 1964, in terms of how strong the ground itself shook.
The school district plans to transport fuel from a group of 10 tanks into three new tanks expected to be placed in the Napakiak school parking lot further inland.
The incident appears similar to an oil and gas release in 2017 blamed on thawing permafrost and hot production fluids.
Winds of up to 85 mph ripped up the Southwest Alaska coast on Friday, upending smokehouses, tearing electric lines and flinging a house across the road.
Hundreds of Chugach Electric customers in Anchorage and Girdwood remained without power Wednesday morning amid outages from Fairbanks to Nikiski.
A windstorm pounded parts of Southcentral Alaska early Monday, knocking down trees and cutting off power for thousands of people from the Matanuska Valley to the Kenai Peninsula.
At least 50,000 homes and businesses lost power late Tuesday, and outages continued through Wednesday.
The leak was detected early Friday at the drill site CD1, 8 miles north of the village of Nuiqsut. “There are no reports of injury or environmental impact to the tundra or wildlife,” the company’s statement said. “Air quality continues to be monitored and no natural gas has been detected outside of the CD1 pad.” The gas leak happened below gravel, and its cause and scale are under investigation, Conoco said. The company said it is using natural gas detection monitors at the CD1 pad, and conducting infrared surveys from the air.
The avalanche came after two days of heavy snow followed by two days of heavy rain. The community had to wait several days before linemen could get to Chignik to repair the damage to its power system.
Gusts over 80 mph pummeled the city, compacting snow and causing power outages for thousands. Nearly 20,000 Matanuska Electric Association members lost power Friday morning. On Point MacKenzie west of Wasilla, crews faced snow drifts so large that they needed snowmachines and snowshoes to reach areas where repairs were needed.
Conservation and tribal groups in 2018 removed a downstream dam in the river northeast of Anchorage. But an upriver dam provides the cheapest energy in Southcentral Alaska. For people from the Native Village of Eklutna the river’s rebirth was an important moment. They want the 12-mile-long waterway permanently restored, along with the salmon their late elders once described as abundant.
Mat-Su schools will be closed again Wednesday, and 5,000 homes remained without electricity Tuesday night after a violent windstorm hammered the Valley.
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