A wave of freezing rain fell on roads across Anchorage overnight Sunday, leading to slick conditions Monday for morning commuters in Alaska’s largest city.
A special weather statement from the National Weather Service cautioned drivers to expect freezing rain from Anchorage north to the Matanuska Valley.
“Temperatures throughout the area are between 28 and 35 degrees, but rain falling onto frozen surfaces may freeze even if the temperature is above freezing,” forecasters wrote. “Exercise caution driving this morning.”
Anchorage-based NWS meteorologist Pamela Pietrycha said Monday morning that local temperatures were in the 30-degree range by 7:45 a.m. The coldest temperatures in the Mat-Su mean the area will likely see only snow, with slightly warmer temperatures in Eagle River leading to a rain-snow mix.
“For Anchorage, we’re mostly seeing a mix of some rain and snow, up at the higher elevations with some periods of all snow,” Pietrycha said. “And then down in the Bowl, we’re seeing also that rain-snow mix and turning to periods of rain.”
By 8:45 a.m., Anchorage police spokeswoman Shelly Wozniak said officers had received word of two vehicles in distress and five accidents, two of them with injuries.
Although much of the Mat-Su Borough remains under a winter weather advisory until 3 p.m. Monday for several inches of snowfall, Pietrycha said Anchorage saw almost exclusively freezing rain overnight.
The rain should dissipate later Monday morning, Pietrycha said.
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.
