The Anchorage School District has closed schools Thursday due to freezing rain and hazardous road conditions, according to an online statement.
Anchorage and much of the Kenai Peninsula are under a winter weather advisory until 1 a.m. Friday. It calls for ice accumulations around one-tenth of an inch.
“Although temperatures are likely to warm above freezing today, rain falling onto frozen and snow-covered surfaces will quickly form ice,” the advisory says. “Slow down and use caution while traveling.”
Warmer air is moving into the area, but surface temperatures are hovering around freezing, said Kristine Chen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Anchorage.
“What that means is that when we do have precipitation that makes it over the mountains and into the Anchorage area, it's melting as it comes down,” Chen said. "It's falling as rain, and as soon as it hits the ground, it freezes.”
Thursday marks the fourth time the Anchorage School District has called off a full day of class due to winter weather this school year. District spokesperson Corey Allen Young said the district is allotted two snow days and makeup days will need to be scheduled.
“There’s different options,” he said. “It may not always mean a day, it could be extra hours. But that’s something still to be determined.”
The district said decisions about Thursday’s after-school activities and community rentals would be announced by noon.
The rain comes after Anchorage broke its January snowfall record on Tuesday, following a winter storm that dumped more than 10 inches of snow on the city, prompting early school dismissals and dozens of collisions.
Chen said that recent snow means forecasted rain could make driving conditions difficult.
“Slow down, give yourself extra distance, especially if you're driving over bridges and overpasses,” she said.
Chen said there are multiple storm systems moving in from the Gulf of Alaska, and they’ll bring several rounds of precipitation. The first one is expected to end early Thursday, she said, but more freezing rain is forecast this afternoon.
“This first round could affect the morning commute," she said. "And then with that second round comes in, that could have additional impact for the evening or afternoon commute."
Generally, she said, conditions are expected to be the worst on the east side of town, because they’re closer to the mountains.
“The general expectation is that conditions will be worst closer to the mountains,” she said. “I do have a relatively short commute, but there was not too much freezing rain on the west side of town."
The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District closed schools in Talkeetna, Willow and Trapper Creek on Wednesday, but all schools were open Thursday. Public schools on the Kenai Peninsula were also open.
In Anchorage, Alaska Pacific University and the University of Alaska Anchorage were open Thursday and People Mover buses were running, but officials warned of possible delays.
Anchorage schools are expected to reopen Friday, the district said.
