Rain makes roads and sidewalks treacherous as Anchorage sees record high temperature

Temperatures reached nearly 50 degrees as rain fell Monday and Tuesday throughout Anchorage, glazing roads and sidewalks with ice that led to dozens of collisions.

The effects of the unseasonably high temperatures prompted school closures in Anchorage and Mat-Su.

Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport hit 42 degrees Monday, breaking a previous record of 41 degrees from 2014, said National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Eovino. Merrill Field Airport had the highest temperature in Anchorage on Monday at 47 degrees, he said.

[Related: One of Anchorage’s least-snowy Decembers on record makes for idle plows and happy skaters]

Temperatures on Tuesday morning remained in the high 30s and low 40s, and were expected to hold steady for most of the day before dropping to around freezing at night, Eovino said.

The weather service extended a winter weather advisory for rain until 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Driving conditions throughout the city were described by the state Department of Transportation as difficult on Tuesday morning with black ice, glaze and wet and icy roads.

Anchorage police reported 79 collisions Monday and 54 vehicles in the ditch or otherwise disabled. Just before 9 a.m., there were six collisions and 10 disabled vehicles reported, according to spokeswoman Amanda Brimanis.

The Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna Borough districts closed schools Tuesday because of deteriorating weather and road conditions, and the University of Alaska Anchorage’s campus also closed.

Schools in the central Kenani Peninsula Borough School District had a two-hour delay for opening Tuesday. The district reported a number of bus routes were experiencing additional delays due to driver shortages or buses becoming stuck.

People Mover bus service in Anchorage was suspended Monday afternoon but resumed Tuesday, although officials warned there could be delays.

Rain was expected to diminish Tuesday morning, but light precipitation was forecast to return to the region late Wednesday night and Thursday, although the weather service said it was not expected to cause any major disruptions for drivers.