Weather

Storms moving into the Gulf of Alaska are expected to push a warm front into the coast, leading to periods of light rain and freezing rain starting Saturday morning.

Much of the city saw winds at 40 mph or more, with far higher gusts on the Hillside and along Turnagain Arm.

The National Weather Service has issued winter weather advisories for Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula and Mat-Su that all call for at least a glaze of ice.

Between 2 and 5 inches of additional snow was forecast for Palmer, Wasilla and Chickaloon, with the highest accumulation near the Talkeetna Mountains.

The Alaska Department of Transportation planned short-term work this week, but officials say there’s a need for more permanent erosion control measures.

A slow-moving storm could bring several inches of new snow to the Anchorage area as well as the Mat-Su and parts of the Kenai Peninsula.

The combination of gusting winds and snow could lead to “significantly” reduced visibility on some roads, the National Weather Service said.

The National Weather Service has issued weather alerts for several regions through Tuesday.

Meteorologists rely on the work churned out by people they never see, who feed weather information to supercomputers all over the world.

The forecast for Thursday’s storm initially called for a mix of snow and rain.

The site pulls together information on street clearing and other snowplow work, and will eventually have real-time tracking of graders.

Municipal officials said they expected plowing on residential streets in neighborhoods to begin Tuesday evening and extend into Wednesday.

Slick roads and tricky driving were reported throughout Anchorage and Mat-Su.

Some roads in the Matanuska and Susitna valleys had patches of black ice or were glazed over with ice on Tuesday. The school district shifted to remote learning for a Sutton school.

The forecast called for the Mendenhall River to crest at around 11 to 11.5 feet early Monday, the weather service said.

High winds were forecast across the city starting Saturday night, with gusts up to 80 mph possible on the Hillside and along Turnagain Arm.

The heavy rain had ended by late afternoon, creeks were receding and the weather service said flood danger had passed.

Between 4 and 5 inches of rain had already fallen in Seward by Wednesday afternoon.

The water came on fast and unexpectedly — and then disappeared.

Some parts of Anchorage could see wind gusts up to 65 mph, the National Weather Service said.

Through Turnagain Arm, southeasterly winds of 20 to 30 mph were possible from Friday night through Saturday afternoon with gusts around 30 to 40 mph.

Water in Bethel and several villages along the lower river reached the highest levels recorded in nearly 20 years, officials say.

The National Weather Service said precipitation is expected to fall as rain in the Anchorage Bowl until Friday.