Warm temps bring melting snow, icy roads, and remote learning to the Mat-Su Borough

After December brought record snowfall for the Matanuska Borough, January does not seem content to let December have all the fun, as a warm front produced warmer temperatures, melting snow in many areas around the Borough.

On Tuesday, temperatures were above freezing for many locations including Anchorage and Palmer. As of 9 a.m., it was 41F at the Anchorage Airport. The last time it was 40F in Anchorage was back on Nov. 14.

Localized gusty winds coming across the Kenai and Chugach Mountains also contributed to the warming trend, with the entire Southcentral region seeing temperatures rise above freezing.

The warming temperatures and icy road conditions caused enough concern for the MSBSD to cancel in-person learning Tuesday for all schools except Glacier View School, although after-school activities were still on for high school students, but cancelled for elementary and middle schools.

Remote learning however was hampered by a widespread internet outage for Matanuska Telephone Association (MTA) customers throughout the Borough. MTA provided a system update on their phone line Tuesday afternoon, saying:

“We are experiencing an internet outage throughout the Valley. Our engineers are aware and working as quickly as they can to correct the problem. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.”

Another round of light rain was forecasted for Tuesday, moving the Kenai Peninsula, and was expected to move into the Anchorage and Matanuska Valley midday to early afternoon. Rainfall will be light and brief in any one location. Some areas may remain dry or just see a few sprinkles. The danger lies in any rain that does fall onto cold roadways will likely lead to icy conditions.

A larger storm looks to cross the Gulf of Alaska and head inland across Prince William Sound sometime late Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning. This has potential to bring heavier precipitation, with snow expected to continue north and west of Talkeetna. All of this could cause more significant impacts to travel along area roadways.

The exact track of this storm remains uncertain, making it difficult to nail down precipitation amounts and precipitation type.

For the latest forecast updates, visit www.weather.gov/afc