Heavy rains and melting glaciers are making landslides in the area more common, says a geologist.

An avalanche on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula killed one backcountry skier and injured two others, prompting warnings for people to stay away from steep slopes as warm weather and high winds raise the risk of more snowslides around the state.

Chugach Electric acknowledges the high frequency of winter power outages in Cooper Landing and Moose Pass, attributing them to heavy snowfall and considering solutions like local maintenance crews.

The Kenai River has been running high ever since two glacier dammed lakes emptied into the river over the last few days. In the Kenai Keys subdivision near Sterling, the river is lapping at the doorsteps of the hundred or so homes that line the river. Longtime resident Frank Turpin said although he’s seen worse flooding, this one is significant. The road leading into the gated subdivision is flooded in numerous places although some vehicles can still make it through. Neighbors who live on higher ground have offered their yards for people wishing to store cars or other items until the waters recede.

Usually, the Snow Glacier and Skilak lakes release every two or three years. Both at the same time is unprecedented.

Kenai National Wildlife Refuge staff say the bird is leucistic, lacking pigment in some feathers due to an absence of cells that produce melanin.

A culvert collapse closed the road at Mile 8 from 9 p.m. Friday until one lane reopened at 10 a.m. Sunday. The culvert was washed out by heavy snowmelt.

The reason for the uptick in human-triggered avalanches this winter: persistent weak layers in the snowpack.

The female seal pup — estimated to be around six months old — was seen swimming “erratically” near the shore in Sitka last month, according to a press release from the center. Worried Sitka residents then reported the pup to the center’s 24-hour stranding hotline.

Just over a year ago, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game applied the pesticide rotenone to two lakes and a stream in the remote Miller Creek drainage on the northern Kenai Peninsula to eradicate the last known population of invasive northern pike on the Kenai Peninsula.

The creek slide is the latest environmental incident to strike the Kenai Peninsula this week: a massive landslide in Seward on May 7 continues to block Lowell Point Road, a wildfire broke out near Sportsman’s Landing on May 8 and a separate wildfire broke out on May 10 near Wildman’s.

The landslide, estimated to be 300 feet wide, has completely cut off the community of Lowell Point. Lowell Point Road is the only land access between Lowell Point and the City of Seward. As a result the City of Seward cannot access critical wastewater facilities.

Carmichael pointed to a tree that fell across one of the riverside campground spots, taking out a fence. There’s another on the opposite side of the path, branches strewn across an open patch of snow. They’re among the 1,000 high-priority trees the city wants to remove due to safety concerns.

Cold on the Peninsula! Cabin owner on Kenai River near Soldotna says they have not seen it frozen like this in years.

An approximate 69% of adult razor clams at Ninilchik beaches and 84% at Clam Gulch beaches have died. The department said the cause of the high natural mortality rate of the clams remains unknown, but may be due to a combination of heavy surf, habitat changes, environmental stressor and predation.

I was looking forward to ice skating this winter. I had bought a pair of Nordic blades. This morning, I woke up to over a foot of snow. It is an early storm for Seward, which was blanketed in white this morning.

"My husband and I have been dipnetting on the Kasilof since 2014. This year we noticed more small fish than usual and all but ~5 of the 35 fish we caught had parasites."

“The midpoint of the Anchor River king salmon run was extremely late. These fish are really having some odd, unprecedented run timing and behavior."

Until 2007, there have been only three verified reports of green sturgeon in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea, and two anecdotal reports from the Copper River and Unalaska areas.

The Seward facility began housing five seals found in the Cook Inlet area and another that was rescued in Juneau.