The Anchorage School District has canceled in-person classes for students on Thursday, citing hazardous weather.
The district said in a written statement Wednesday night that students would attend school remotely Thursday.
A state high school volleyball tournament is set to go on as expected, but school administrators planned to make a decision about other after-school activities by 10 a.m. Thursday.
A storm that swept into Southcentral Alaska early Wednesday added as much as six inches of snow to the roughly seven inches that had fallen earlier in the week, with more expected. According to the National Weather Service, the storm could end with a total of more than a foot of snow by late Thursday.
A flood watch was in effect until Thursday evening, and a winter storm warning until Thursday afternoon.
Forecasters were concerned that changing temperatures could cause melting, refreezing and poor driving conditions.
Last school year, snowstorms caused Anchorage students to miss a total of seven days of in-person instruction, and the school district added an extra 30 minutes to school days for over a month to make up for lost instructional time.
Tim Rockey is the producer of Alaska News Nightly and covers education for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at trockey@alaskapublic.org or 907-550-8487. Read more about Tim here.
