"I don’t recall seeing anything like this before."

Over a month of rain has tranformed Anchorage into a rainforest and revealed the plethora of fungi hiding in our lawns, parks and forests.

August 9, 2022 Borough officials said multiple roads were closed Tuesday and more were being monitored after several days of rain.

Anchorage Health Department officials say the person who tested positive is an Anchorage resident and is isolating at home. Officials say the person did not require hospitalization, and was a close contact of a person who recently traveled out of state. 

For property owners, the beetles present a vexing scenario, as some scramble to keep their trees alive while others mourn the loss and embark on the oftentimes costly removal process.

Interesting cysts covering a young choke cherry tree.

Anchorage saw temperatures spike above 60 degrees every day in June for the first time in recorded history. The city also experienced near record low precipitation: Only 1/10 of an inch of rain fell the entire month.

The fire also comes as the state of Alaska enters its second highest level of fire preparedness, based on the high number of wildfires burning statewide and the possibility for more.

It’s not often that Southcentral Alaska residents wake to thunder in the middle of the night. But what forecasters are calling an unusual storm moved from the Talkeetna Mountains into the Matanuska Valley and then Anchorage and south to the Kenai Peninsula from Wednesday night into Thursday morning. At least one lightning-caused structure fire was reported.

This season the birch pollen has been particularly bad. Some people with asthma have had to leave the state. The peak was May 18 when pollen counts were 974 grains per cubic meter.

State Veterinarian Dr. Robert Gerlach says the Mat-Su case confirms that migrating birds have brought avian influenza to Alaska.

Scott Keenan and his wife Ashlie moved to Anchorage from Sydney, Australia four years ago, and found there were no other apps to help them safely navigate around the new types of wildlife they started to encounter in Alaska. Repawts can help people share important information about wildlife sightings and receive safety alert notifications for anyone hitting the hiking trails, campsites and fishing spots around Alaska.

No residents had been reported injured or missing, and power had been restored to most impacted homes. City officials had also carved a path so residents can travel in the area by snowmachine.

Auto shops are seeing more business because of damaged tires, and drivers are often inching through a messy maze of bad road conditions. Road crews are making headway but still catching up from unfavorable weather last month.

I was watching a flock of redpolls at my feeder when I noticed one unusual member with a huge white body. See photo.

Extreme winds and cold temperatures have affected the areas. At one point over the weekend, 20,000 households in Mat-Su lost power. 

It is November, we have snow and we are skiing the Southcentral Alaska backcountry early and in the best conditions in years.

In the past 10 years there have only been three other weeks where Anchorage was this cold during a seven day period. Those occurred in: January 2020, January 2012, and November 2011.

The Matanuska Experiment Farm in Palmer says they got 1 1/8" of rain on Saturday. I think we got more than that, but based on their measurements I would revise my estimate down to 1 1/2 to 2 inches on Saturday.

A storm that hit Southcentral Alaska on Saturday night led to flooding in Girdwood, a landslide on the Sterling Highway and left thousands of homes without power throughout the region on Sunday morning. More than a foot of rain fell in Girdwood by Sunday.