Blizzard hits the Mat-Su, causing widespread power outages, closures

Downed power lines and trees decorated roadways as winds whipped, rattling windows, cars, and nerves as a blizzard hit the Matanuska Valley on Monday.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a blizzard warning starting Monday morning with localized ground blizzard conditions, including gusting winds and drifting snow. Gusts 71 mph hit Palmer, with Wasilla getting gusts as high as 69 mph.

While winds increased throughout Monday, open areas such as the Palmer Hay Flats, the State Fairgrounds, lakes, and areas that have been less impacted by the recent weather events braced for the worst the Mother Nature had to offer.

The Matanuska Electric Association (MEA) posted to its social media throughout the day power outages that hit residents and businesses, including two substations that lost power serving Wasilla proper and the majority of the Big Lake area. There were also outages in the Chickaloon-to-Glacierview area, Talkeetna, and Petersville areas. There are also dozens of single-member outages.

By Monday evening, MEA reported that there was a massive widespread outage, affecting about 17,000 members. Most of the Mat-Su Valley experienced a power outage. MEA thanked residents for their continued patience while crews worked overtime restoring power.

The Matanuska Susitna Borough School District cancelled activities for some regions of the district due to increasing winds, while other cancellations were based on individual site conditions.

The high winds led to other closures including the Mat-Su Borough landfills and the Wasilla library is closed.

The Hatchers Pass Avalanche Center reports that avalanche hazard will rise today with the significant weather change and the potential for natural full depth avalanches.

"Our fragile snowpack will fail under any significant new load. Natural avalanches are expected if winds sustain and/or increase. It’s a dangerous start to the season. Between existing dangerous conditions and now a rapid load from winds, we expect more natural avalanches."

Because of the recent freezing temperatures, blizzard conditions are not expected to be as widespread or impactful as the blizzard event of December 2022, as the snow has had a chance to harden.