Another heavy snowfall buries Anchorage, closing schools and clogging already bad roads
Nov. 14—This story is no longer being updated. Click here for the latest version.
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Cedric Tall of Fairbanks brushes snow off a pickup while visiting family in Mt. View on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. (Bill Roth / ADN)
Just days after early-season snowfall buried Anchorage and much of Southcentral Alaska, a fresh storm prompted closures, triggered power outages and choked already compromised roads.
Schools in Anchorage and Mat-Su shifted to remote learning Monday as downed power lines left more than 10,000 households and businesses without power at one point. Many government offices announced closures. Drivers reported slow going, with icy ruts beneath the fresh cover — one called Fireweed Lane a "slippery, rutted, lumpy mess" Monday afternoon — and multiple trees down, some in major roadways.
By Monday evening, the Anchorage School District announced that Tuesday would be another remote learning day for students, citing the challenging road conditions.
The Anchorage Police Department reported 51 vehicles in distress as well as nine collisions, one of them involving injuries, between midnight and mid-afternoon Monday.
The new snowfall follows last week's storm totals of more than 2 1/2 feet in places, an early-season dump that's left crews with lingering difficulties plowing roads and streets. The back-to-back storms have put the city on track for the snowiest November on record.
The snow stopped before noon, when the National Weather Service reported nearly 9 inches of new snow at the agency's Sand Lake offices in West Anchorage.
The November snowfall record in Anchorage, at least since 1953 when record-keeping began, is 38.8 inches which fell in 1994, according to meteorologist Brandon Lawson. As of mid-day Monday, the city's November snow total stood at 38.1 inches, he said.
"As of right now, we're on track to surpass the all-time snow record," Lawson said Monday, just before the snow stopped falling. "I don't know if we'll get to 38.8 today but we've still got a lot of November left."
By early Monday afternoon, the status of Anchorage roads ran the gamut, with some major thoroughfares scraped to blacktop across all four lanes and others more like mashed potatoes — unplowed and sloppy.
Busy Midtown roads like C Street and Tudor Road were messy, particularly at intersections, with even heavy-duty trucks spinning their wheels to dislodge from the chop. Berms impeded some driveways and side streets off freshly plowed roads. A BMW appeared high-centered off Northern Lights Boulevard.
[Has your vehicle been damaged driving around Anchorage after the snowstorms? We want to hear your story.]
Pedestrians and cyclists struggled to find safe places to travel, moving slowly along road shoulders with cars and trucks inching along behind them or swerving around. Tall berms formed by snow clearing forced some pedestrians to scramble up and down chest-high heaps at crosswalks.
The Anchorage School District announced Sunday evening that schools would again shift to remote learning because of the forecast and expected hazardous driving conditions. The district announced Monday morning that after-school activities and community rentals are also canceled.
Mayor Dave Bronson closed municipal offices for the day. People Mover also suspended bus service, and limited AnchorRides service to essential trips only. All state offices in Anchorage and Mat-Su were also closed.
The municipality's Solid Waste Services department canceled curbside pickup by mid-morning Monday; Wasilla-based Denali Refuse made the same decision describing unplowed side roads and many areas without power.
