Anchorage and some Mat-Su schools shift to remote learning as rain coats roads in ice

The Anchorage School District shifted to remote learning Thursday due to rain and freezing rain that caused dangerous driving conditions around the city, especially on side roads. The slick conditions were forecast to continue into Friday.

The district initially announced a 2-hour delay before making the remote-learning decision. A message to staff described “inclement weather and hazardous road conditions.” Girdwood K-8 School remained open, the district said.

Schools in the Susitna Valley also shifted to remote learning on Thursday. Most Mat-Su schools remained open.

School district officials in Anchorage said they made closure decisions based on road conditions and because of questions about the forecast. Officials in Mat-Su said the precipitation and bad roads hit as students were headed to school.

Seven Mat-Su school buses required assistance after becoming stuck Thursday morning and three were involved in accidents, although no injuries were reported and only one of the buses was carrying students, said Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District spokesman John Notestine. Road conditions were especially challenging in Big Lake and on Trunk and upper Palmer- and Wasilla-Fishhook roads, he said.

The National Weather Service extended a winter weather advisory for Anchorage to noon Friday. The advisory had been set to expire midafternoon Thursday. Similar advisories were in effect for Mat-Su, Valdez and the Copper River Basin.

Drivers on Thursday reported some slush on main roads but treacherous conditions on side roads and parking lots, with water over ice.

Anchorage police had responded to 21 vehicles in distress and 11 collisions, including three with injuries, by 3:30 p.m., spokeswoman Shelly Wozniak said.

People Mover temporarily suspended bus rides Thursday morning “due to hazardous weather and road conditions.” Officials evaluated road conditions throughout the morning and decided to resume service at noon, said Bart Rudolph, transit planning and communications manager. Some routes were expected to have delays and detours.

It’s rare for People Mover to suspend service, Rudolph said, but roads early Thursday were so slick that it wasn’t safe to keep buses running: Three buses got stuck on Lake Otis Parkway around 6 a.m., spinning their tires on the icy roadway.

“We had to go out and just put down an incredible amount of sand to even get the bus unstuck,” he said. “And we had a lot of other drivers that were reporting buses swerving — kind of difficult to keep them on the road, but that’s when we made the call.”

Roughly one- to two-tenths of an inch of rain fell throughout much of Anchorage, meteorologists said. Temperatures across the city ranged from 30 to 34 degrees, and rain falling on cold ground caused surfaces to freeze and glaze over, said meteorologist Michael Brown.

The rain tapered off Thursday afternoon, but another round of freezing rain and drizzle was expected to move into Anchorage and the Matanuska Valley overnight and into Friday morning, according to the weather service’s updated advisory.

“Precipitation coverage and rainfall amounts are expected to be lighter than before,” the advisory said. “Any additional precipitation is likely (to) freeze on untreated surfaces and any residual water that is on the ground will refreeze once the sun sets and surface temperatures dip below freezing.”

The Anchorage School District made the decision to delay school on Thursday around 4:30 a.m., spokesman Corey Allen Young said.

“The freezing rain started just before 4 a.m.,” he wrote in an email. “Weather forecasts are not always accurate ... so the Administration compiled information from across the Anchorage Bowl before deciding that schools would shift to remote learning.”

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District notified families about dangerous roads around 8:20 a.m. and said the “weather moved in at an inopportune time, with many families already en route to school.”

The icy roads caused a pickup truck to lose control around 6 a.m. on Knik-Goose Bay Road and collide with an SUV near Gleason Lane, Alaska State Troopers said. Delynn Brouillet, 64, died at the scene and both drivers were seriously injured, troopers said. The road was closed for more than four hours as troopers documented the scene and cleared vehicles and debris, they said.