Anchorage officials are advising residential and commercial building owners to consider removing snow from their roofs.
The notice issued Tuesday follows a record-breaking amount of early-season snow that’s led to three roof collapses at commercial buildings in the city.
In the notice, Anchorage officials said commercial buildings with wood trusses are at the highest risk of roof collapse, especially those built before the 1990s. Last month, both a Spenard Builders Supply dispatch center built in the 1980s and a condemned warehouse in Midtown Anchorage suffered roof collapses, neither with injuries.
City officials wrote that they estimate there are between “500 and 1,000 buildings in Anchorage that have the roof trusses of immediate concern.” They recommend that snow removal contractors prioritize those roofs.
Though there have not been any injuries reported due to roof collapses in Anchorage this winter, a woman died when the roof of a commercial building collapsed last winter.
As for residential building owners, the advice remains similar to that from city officials and private contractors earlier in January.
Anchorage officials said the urgency to shovel a residential roof varies based on roof design and current snow load. Anchorage homes are typically built to support about 40 pounds per square foot, and city officials said they’ve seen reports of homes 30 pounds per square foot of snow.
There are several signs someone may need to shovel the snow off of their home, officials said, including hearing creaking or other strange noises, sagging of the roof, difficulty closing doors and the buildup of ice dams.
“It is important that snow is thoughtfully removed so as not to create piles that can overload portions of the roof,” city officials advised homeowners who decide to shovel their own roofs.
As of Friday, Anchorage had seen 87.7 inches of snowfall.
There’s a slight chance of snow in the forecast for Anchorage over the weekend, but mainly forecasters are predicting cold temperatures to persist, with lows in the negative teens expected Saturday night.
Wesley Early covers Anchorage life and city politics for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at wearly@alaskapublic.org and follow him on X at @wesley_early. Read more about Wesley here.
