Live updates: High winds and blowing snow hammer Southcentral as Sea-Tac delays snarl holiday travel
Dec. 23—wind, windstorm, airport, winter
Anchorage and Mat-Su residents contended with blowing snow and power outages Friday as howling winds hammered Southcentral Alaska. Heading into the busy holiday weekend, some also saw their travel plans dashed due to freezing rain at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and high winds at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.
Follow along with our weather and travel updates below.
Also: Have your travel plans been scrambled by the weather? Are there other major impacts from the wind that you're seeing in your neighborhood? We'd like to hear from you. Emails reporters Zaz Hollander and Tess Williams at zhollander@adn.com and twilliams@adn.com.
Noon: Alaska Airlines cancels some flights
Alaska Airlines canceled some flights Friday at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport due to high wind, said Tricia Bruckbauer, a spokeswoman for the airline. Alaska travelers were also impacted Friday by cancellations in Portland and Seattle. Bruckbauer said all Alaska Airlines flights in and out of Seattle were canceled until at least 1 p.m. and canceled until at least 6 p.m. in Portland.
It may be several days before travelers who had flight cancellations can get onto a different flight, she said.
"We strongly encourage guests whose flights are canceled to reassess their travel plans due to the limited availability," she said. "Obviously that's easier said than done — we're up against a holiday."
Anyone traveling should check with their flight status with their airline, she said. Alaska Airlines call centers were experiencing long wait times and Bruckbauer recommended that customers make travel adjustments online.
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Trygve Erickson and his wife were loading luggage into their car around 8:30 p.m. Thursday and preparing to drive from Willow to the Anchorage airport when they got a text message from Alaska Airlines: "Sorry, your flight has been cancelled."
Erickson said they were directed to a website and then called customer service, eventually signing up to receive a call back. It wasn't likely they'd be able to leave for New Orleans, their destination, until Monday, so he said they decided to stay home for the holidays.
"It could have been much worse. ... We could have made it to Seattle and we probably would have been stuck at Sea-Tac for a couple of days," he said.
At the Lake Hood airstrip, some scrambled on Friday to check on planes parked there as high winds whipped through West Anchorage.
wind, windstorm, airport, winter
Noon: Intermittent Glenn Highway closures possible near Palmer Hay Flats
There may be intermittent closures on the Glenn Highway near the Palmer Hay Flats Friday as tow trucks and Alaska State Troopers work to get vehicles out of snow drifts, a spokesman for the troopers said. Only one lane of the highway was drivable Friday morning due to the snow drifts.
Wind snow drifts Glenn Highway Palmer Wasilla traffic cam
In downtown Anchorage, water flooded several Friday morning as a water main broke and a fire hydrant was struck.
Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility was notified around 10:30 a.m. that water was surfacing on Second Avenue near Buttress Park, said Sandy Baker, a spokeswoman for the department. Crews responded to the area and found there was a break on First Avenue in front of the train depot, she said. No road closures are expected in the area.
A fire hydrant was struck on C Street, sending water onto the area between Third and Fourth Avenues, Baker said. The hydrant was removed and turned off, she said.
Third Avenue water street road snow ice wind
11 a.m. Friday: Palmer Municipal Airport closes
The Palmer Municipal Airport closed Friday as extreme wind gusts hit the region.
The high winds caused drifting snow on sections of state roadways, according to Shannon McCarthy, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. Driving conditions were worse on the Glenn Highway near Palmer and in the Mat-Su and also challenging near the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, she said.
State maintenance resources were being moved to the Matanuska and Susitna valleys to keep roads open, she said.
Anchorage wind snow visibility Merrill Field
Original story: Power outages affect over 19,000 in Southcentral; weather disrupts air travel
As Anchorage and Mat-Su residents contended with howling winds, blowing snow and power outages Friday, some also saw holiday travel plans dashed due to bad weather at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Winds hit 60 mph gusts in parts of Anchorage and higher in Palmer by morning, causing major problems for electrical equipment all over the region. More than 19,000 households from Eagle River and Chugiak to Big Lake were without power by 10:50 a.m. Friday as winds triggered widespread outages, according to Matanuska Electric Association. In Anchorage, over 200 households were without power as well by that time, according to Chugach Electric Association.
Airport officials said Friday morning that driving conditions were challenging on many roads surrounding the airport, and traffic on the main road leading into the airport was moving slowly, if at all. An Alaska State Troopers alert for Mat-Su warned that blowing snow and drifts made driving conditions even on major roadways "extremely challenging" and advised residents not to go out unless absolutely necessary.
"If you must be out today, please ensure that you have a shovel and winter-weather clothing in your vehicle if you get stuck," the alert said.
Impassable drifts closed roads in Palmer on Friday morning as police asked drivers to give crews time to clear. The Palmer courthouse said it had closed by 10:30 a.m. because of a power outage, with emergency proceedings to be handled out of Anchorage. Glenn Highway commuters traveling between Mat-Su and Anchorage reported zero visibility at times on the Flats, with snow drifting into the roadway making for a harrowing drive in.
Troopers had responded to several collisions and dozens of vehicles in distress across Mat-Su by 9 a.m. Friday, according to spokesman Austin McDaniel. No fatalities had been reported.
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A 60 mph gust hit the airport around 8 a.m. Side roads around the Anchorage airport Friday morning were blocked or partially blocked by snow drifts, according to spokeswoman Megan Peters. Main roads were in reasonably good shape, Peters said, but road conditions were hazardous anywhere off main areas.
Traffic on International Airport Road was moving so slowly Friday morning that Peters said that "coming to the airport might be challenging for people."
She advised travelers to check the status of their flight with the airline carrier.
A winter storm dropping freezing rain on Seattle complicated travel out of Anchorage Friday. All runways shut down at Sea-Tac just after 4 a.m. Friday due to icy surfaces though the airport de-iced and reopened one runway just before 6 a.m.
[Massive winter storm brings travel chaos across US with frigid temps, snow and ice]
Airport officials said that limited operations "will continue to be weather dependent" and urged travelers to monitor flights and stay in touch with airlines.
Conditions at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport were already disrupted before ice shut down Sea-Tac. The airport warned the parking garage and all parking lots were at capacity and instructed travelers to "make arrangements to be dropped off and picked up to avoid delays when traveling."
Winds in Anchorage rose early Friday and just before 7 a.m. gusted as high as 55 mph at Ted Stevens International Airport, with most of the higher readings on the north and west side of Anchorage and almost no wind in East Anchorage, according to the National Weather Service. The airport was seeing sustained winds of around 35 mph.
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Readings were higher in the Matanuska Valley, where northeast winds howled through the night.
Palmer registered sustained winds of 40 to 50 mph with gusts up to 60 mph and the highest reading around 4 a.m. at 68, according to meteorologist Eric Drewitz. Wasilla saw more intermittent gusts between 35 and 45 mph.
A blizzard warning remained effect until 8 p.m. Friday in the Matanuska Valley, with forecasted gusts as high as 75 mph. Anchorage was expected to see gusts as high as 55 mph Friday. Winds should start noticeably subsiding in Anchorage by late afternoon and evening, then later in the Matanuska Valley, Drewitz said.
Blizzards don't necessarily involve new snow: this warning describes a ground blizzard from high winds blowing snow that's already fallen, leaving piles along roadsides after three major storms blanketed Anchorage and Mat-Su.
Snow drifts were already problematic enough in Mat-Su that school officials enacted a 1-hour delay Thursday morning to allow crews to clear drifts blocking roads and school grounds and a greenhouse at the Wasilla Lowe's store collapsed. No one was injured.
The state of Alaska said all executive branch offices in Mat-Su will be closed "due to inclement weather conditions."
