Anchorage schools closed, with up to 9 more inches of snow forecast through Thursday

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with a new story, Storm that dropped up to 8 inches of snow across Anchorage leads to dozens of crashes, closes schools.

Anchorage schools were closed Thursday and all after-school activities canceled as the National Weather Service forecast as much as 9 more inches of snow across the Anchorage area through the day.

Forecasters early Thursday updated a winter weather advisory warning of an additional 6 to 9 inches of snow on the Anchorage Hillside and in Eagle River and an additional 3 to 5 inches across the Anchorage Bowl.

The advisory, which lasts until 10 p.m. Thursday, also affects Eagle River, Indian and Eklutna.

Alaska Pacific University also closed its campus Thursday due to weather.

Anchorage roads were covered in snow beginning Wednesday afternoon. The southbound lanes of the Seward Highway near the Dimond Boulevard overpass were closed for about two hours and drivers were diverted after a multivehicle crash involving injuries.

Winds were expected to pick up Thursday night, with gusts up to 20 mph.

A band of heavy snow formed from the western Kenai Peninsula to the Susitna Valley late Tuesday and Wednesday, with some areas expected to see up to 2 feet of snow by Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

The heaviest snow fell from the city of Kenai to Ninilchik, the weather service said Wednesday.

Reports as of Wednesday morning included 20 inches of snow in Clam Gulch and 19 inches in Nikiski, where schools were closed Wednesday due to poor weather.

The heaviest snow in the Susitna Valley was expected to fall west of the Parks Highway.