An avalanche closed the Parks Highway near Cantwell around 10 a.m. on Friday morning, dumping about six feet of snow and debris across mile 219. Nobody was hurt, but the section of highway has been blocked from both sides for most of the day.
Sean Rose said he was driving north on the Parks Highway when he got caught in the avalanche.
“Then out of nowhere is a huge powder plume with zero visibility, so I just started braking,” he said, adding that his van quickly bogged down in the snow. “But I’m totally fine. The van still runs and drives.”
Troopers, State Department of Transportation crews and Denali National Park personnel responded to the avalanche, directing traffic away from the scene and clearing off the almost 400-foot stretch of buried highway.
State Department of Transportation spokesperson Danielle Tessen said crews should be able to have the road cleared by Friday night, but drivers should avoid the area until their work is done.
“If you see the additional equipment out there, give them extra space,” Tessen said. “They're working really hard over this warmer weekend before we're gonna see colder weather come in.”
Fairbanks-based National Weather Service meteorologist Jason Laney said an atmospheric river — commonly known as the “Pineapple Express” — is bringing severe weather to the region.
“It's pretty common for these things to hit the West Coast of the Lower 48, and from time to time, they find us up here in Alaska as well,” he said. “But to come our way in January is a little unusual. In general, we had all the ingredients for every type of weather you can imagine.”
Laney said the avalanche risk in the Interior will decrease as strong winds die down. But drivers should remain aware of icy conditions.
“Folks that find themselves on the west side, that's where the heaviest of snow will fall,” Laney said. “Folks to the east will be in the warm air, but still getting the same precipitation rates, and that's resulting in very icy travel as well. So, while the challenges and the impacts may be different, they're basically extreme throughout much of the central Interior of Alaska.”
Road crews were still clearing the avalanche debris as of 3:30 p.m. Friday, and expected the road to reopen by 8 p.m. A winter storm warning is projected to remain in effect for most of the Interior until Monday afternoon.