Icy road conditions have closed Anchorage schools for the second time this week.
“The weather changed pretty quickly overnight and road conditions are not safe in most areas for the morning commute,” Anchorage School District officials said in a social media post.
The message said the district will decide by noon whether to hold after-school activities and community rentals.
Anchorage schools were also closed Monday due to similar conditions.
The University of Alaska Anchorage announced a two-hour delayed start Thursday, with campus opening at 10 a.m.
Anchorage, the Matanuska Valley and Southern Susitna Valley are under a winter weather advisory until 6 p.m. Thursday. The National Weather Service says a mix of freezing rain and light snow is expected, which may form a light glaze on roads, and could make travel difficult.
“Roads, especially bridges and overpasses, will likely become slick and hazardous,” the advisory says. “The hazardous conditions could impact the Thursday morning and evening commutes.”
The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District had two-hour delays for some of its schools earlier this week but has not announced any delays or closures for Thursday.
Dan Nelson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Anchorage, said freezing rain should taper off Thursday afternoon, and the city may see light snow accumulations Friday morning.
“Be careful out on the roadways today with the freezing rain, and then bundle up, stay warm, starting this weekend,” he said.
He said cold air will move back into the area Thursday evening, and below-freezing temperatures will last throughout the weekend.
“This weekend is when we really start to enter the freezer,” he said.
The forecast for the city calls for mostly sunny skies this weekend, with high temperatures in the low teens.
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