Juneau’s urban avalanche advisory has ended for the winter.
The urban avalanche advisory gets updated every morning during snow season. But as spring comes to Juneau, the city will no longer post daily advisories.
The city’s emergency programs manager, Tom Mattice, says he’ll keep watching conditions until most of the winter snowpack has receded, and he would put out a special alert if an unusual spring storm raised avalanche danger to extreme levels.
“If we do get some sort of huge, anomalous event I will go to the extra effort to communicate with the public through all of the avenues available,” he said.
That means alerts would come through additional channels, including radio alerts and a statement from the National Weather Service.
In his final post, Mattice warned that ending the advisory does not mean the end of avalanche danger.
“If there is still snow in the mountains, avalanches remain possible,” he wrote.
The potential for avalanche activity on the Flume and Perseverance trails will rise as temperatures warm, especially during the late morning and afternoon.
Juneau’s avalanche advisory only serves urban areas, but Mattice’s final advisory also encouraged backcountry travelers to remain cautious. Spring storms can quickly increase avalanche potential at higher elevations.
