By Jasz Garrett
Juneau, Alaska (KINY) – The Haines Highway landslide was cleared on Christmas Eve by the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities and the road is back open. Other than a damaged vehicle, no injuries were reported from the rockslide according to DOT&PT.
The winter storm warning expired at 9 a.m. Tuesday for Haines Highway and the White Pass.
On Christmas morning, up to 12 inches of snow was reported along the Klondike Highway while Haines Highway reported mostly rain. Cold air moved in on Monday afternoon causing heavy snow throughout the night. As of Tuesday morning, another 12 inches was reported for the Klondike, giving them a 24-inch snow total. For Haines Highway, 6-12 inches was reported overnight. Most of the snow was at the borders and decreased closer to town.
The main system is over the Northern Panhandle and is departing into the Yukon and B.C. across the coast range according to National Weather Service Juneau. Showers are expected to continue through Tuesday with a short break before more rain moves in Wednesday morning or afternoon depending on the area.
“In terms of the heart of the storm we’re moving out of it,” meteorologist Andrew Park said. “I’m gonna say the big story is going to be the warm-up in temperatures by the end of the week where we could have snow levels reach five, 6,000 feet in the Southern panhandle and then in the north we could have snow levels go above Eaglecrest, so 2,000, 3,000-foot snow levels. With still pretty heavy rain coming at us Friday and Saturday.”
The Southern Panhandle could see the temperatures reach the 50’s, and for most of the panhandle, maximum temperatures could be 10-15 degrees above their seasonal normal. Juneau’s seasonal normal is 25°F in the morning and 32°F in the afternoon. Ketchikan is expected to reach about 42 degrees and Juneau could reach mid-40s.
“That’s pretty abnormal for this time of year,” Park said.
He said that can be tied to it being an El Niño winter.
“We were expecting a more active winter, we were expecting it to be warmer, we were expecting more rain and so far it’s holding true,” Park said. “Now that does not mean that we’re going to be seeing rain for this winter. Like one of our biggest snow years was an El Niño year for Juneau. So, you know, there’s still time but for right now…it’s been warmer and wetter.”
