Storm dumps more than foot of snow in parts of Anchorage

The storm was expected to continue toward Canada today.

The heavy snow and fierce winds brought down two avalanches on the Seward Highway on either side of Girdwood, isolating the ski resort town early in the day and preventing some residents from commuting to Anchorage. State road workers cleared the slide near Bird Creek by 3 p.m., while they cleaned up the debris that poured down near Mile 87, about three miles south of Girdwood, by 4:30 p.m.

In Anchorage, the snowfall began Monday night and continued until Tuesday morning. Some in town awoke to driveways buried under 10 inches of snow. The Hillside saw the biggest snow dump with one report of 21 inches, the National Weather Service said. By 11 a.m., after most of the storm had passed, Glen Alps had 14 inches. Palmer had 6.

In the aftermath of the storm, Chugach Electric Association reported scattered outages. Anchorage police reported responding to more than a 100 vehicles in distress and 24 accidents. And Alyeska Resort workers in Girdwood spent the morning on avalanche mitigation and digging out chairlifts to open the slopes for eager skiers who wanted access to the 50 inches of fresh snow at the top of the mountain.

Some Anchorage skiers were so antsy to get to the fresh powder, they chartered a helicopter to get to the resort, KTUU Channel 2 reported.

In Homer, city schools closed and whiteout conditions were to blame for a nine-car pileup that resulted in several serious injuries, the Homer Police Department said.

The city clerk in Seward told small-boat owners in the harbor to shovel the more than two feet of heavy snow from their vessels.

The storm came up from the Aleutian Islands, walloped Kodiak, slid into Southcentral, and is now on its way northeast, meteorologists said.

Anchorage is on target for average snowfalls this winter, the National Weather Service said. As of Tuesday afternoon, the city was exactly on pace with previous years' averages of 58 inches of snow.

Avalanche experts said the new snow has boosted the threat of backcountry slides.