The early-morning shift back to snow, combined with warm asphalt, created icy surfaces that triggered dozens of stuck vehicles and crashes. The Anchorage School District canceled all after-school sports, activities and community rentals due to "worsening road conditions," officials said in an announcement before noon.
Prolonged wet, windy weather had saturated Southcentral Alaska through the weekend, leaving a trail of potholes, high water and avalanches. Temperatures began dropping toward January norms Monday morning, and snow returned to Anchorage and Mat-Su.
Slick conditions were reported on the Glenn Highway and throughout the city. As of midafternoon Tuesday, Anchorage police reported 54 crashes and 42 vehicles in distress. Several collisions were reported on the Glenn Highway on Monday afternoon including one near Palmer and another on the northbound Glenn at the first Knik River bridge, according to the state road conditions site.
Just before noon, Alaska State Troopers said they responded to a semi leaking fuel at Mile 32 of the highway after it slid on ice and went into a ditch. A pickup then also slid into the semi's trailer, causing minor injuries, troopers said. All told, troopers in Mat-Su responded to 17 crashes on Monday, "with multiple of them requiring transportation to the hospital" and noted that number didn't reflect responses by Palmer or Wasilla police.
Citing hazardous weather conditions and lingering power outages, Mat-Su district officials closed schools in the Susitna Valley on Monday and Tuesday. Matanuska Electric Association was reporting more than 1, members without power Monday evening, including most of Talkeetna.
