Much of Southcentral Alaska will see strong wind gusts Tuesday, peaking during the evening commute hours, with up to 70 mph expected at higher elevations.
A special weather statement from the National Weather Service calls for gusts in the Anchorage Bowl of 25 to 35 mph, with 55 to 70 mph along the Upper Hillside. The Matanuska Valley should see peak gusts of 30 to 45 mph, with the southern Kenai Peninsula seeing 30 to 50 mph.
Weather Service meteorologist Christian Landry said the strongest gust recorded in Anchorage by 11 a.m. Tuesday was 38 mph along Potter Marsh. The high winds are expected to span from Homer to Wasilla, intensifying during the day.
“This will most likely grow as we get into the later afternoon,” Landry said. “But as of right now, it’s windy, but it’s not yet gotten to our thresholds that we expected for later today.”
Electric utilities were bracing for possible outages caused by the winds, with Matanuska Electric Association alerting members on Facebook Tuesday morning.
Landry was unsure if the gusts would be strong enough to shift cars on icy roads, but said blowing snow could create hazardous conditions for both drivers and pedestrians. By Wednesday morning, the winds should die down again.
No new snow is expected with the winds, according to Landry, with temperatures falling from their rise in recent weeks. By Thursday the Anchorage area should be consistently below freezing, which will keep roads icy after recent rain and slush.
Chris Klint is a web producer and breaking news reporter at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cklint@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Chris here.
