A cold snap in Southcentral Alaska has led to increased natural gas demand, causing Enstar to struggle with supply due to equipment failure and technical issues.
Roads remain dangerous, and power outages persist into Sunday evening in parts of Anchorage and the Matanuska and Susitna valleys.
Extreme winds and cold temperatures have affected the areas. At one point over the weekend, 20,000 households in Mat-Su lost power.
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.
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.
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.
Seismologists called the quake the most significant in the state’s largest city since 1964, in terms of how strong the ground itself shook.
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.
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.
Hundreds of Chugach Electric customers in Anchorage and Girdwood remained without power Wednesday morning amid outages from Fairbanks to Nikiski.
The level of Eklutna Lake seems to be very low this winter. Over the long term, decline of the Eklutna Glacier is a concern for water and energy supply.
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.
Fire Island is producing more than expected for this time of year according to Ethan Schutt, senior vice president of land and development for Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI) the Alaska Native corporation that operates the wind farm. So far about 17,000 megawatt hours have been produced, enough to power roughly 6,500 Southcentral homes each month.
At least 50,000 homes and businesses lost power late Tuesday, and outages continued through Wednesday.
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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