Gale-force gusts in Mat-Su knock out power, close Alaska State Fair rides

PALMER — Winds gusting to gale force in Mat-Su left thousands of residents without power at times Tuesday and closed rides at the Alaska State Fair the day before.

The high winds began Sunday night and cranked up to a sustained 25 miles an hour on Monday and Tuesday, with gusts up to 40 mph and higher in Palmer and Wasilla, according to the National Weather Service.

By Tuesday, a total of 5,000 Matanuska Electric Association members had lost power at some point due to branches or trees down on lines or snapped lines, said MEA spokeswoman Julie Estey. The co-op brought on extra crews but just under 1,000 remained dark as of noon Tuesday, according to an MEA website with updated outage information.

Many of the outages were small and scattered from Glacier View to Knik-Goose Bay Road. But crews worked through the night in Big Lake, removing at least eight downed trees before restringing the line and fixing damaged components, Estey said.

The MEA grid can usually withstand a fair amount of wind in winter but trees still have leaves on them now, making them a bigger threat to power lines, she said: "This windstorm definitely took a toll on our system."

The wind also wreaked havoc at the fair Monday. Vendors struggled to keep tents from collapsing or sailing off. Fairgoers got blasted by grit as they navigated between buildings, signs were blown down and cracked, and hungry patrons clung to paper-plated purchases — one said the sauerkraut blew right off a hot dog.

The company that operates the carnival midway shut down both Ferris wheels and a few other rides Monday but they were open Tuesday.

Golden Wheel Amusements safety manager Chase Eckert said gusts near 35 mph Monday motivated the decision.

Eckert based the decision on wind readings at Palmer Airport but also on the numbers on a wind meter he carried up a tower. Golden Wheel shut down the Ferris wheels as well as high-swinging 1001 Nights and the Wacky Worm, a rollercoaster for children.

The rides were open again Tuesday, with gusts below 35 knots, he said.

The concern wasn't so much rider safety as equipment wear and tear, Eckert said. Higher winds also can make it more difficult for operators to make fine adjustments in cart positions on the Ferris wheels as they let off or take on passengers.

"I've only ever seen pictures of rides falling over," he said, adding that was in the Lower 48. "That's almost always tornado damage."

Winds were expected to diminish Tuesday afternoon into evening, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Rebecca Duell. But 10 to 15 mph winds with higher gusts are expected to continue through Thursday, Duell said.

The wind is following the Matanuska Valley from a high-pressure system over the mainland — the same system that's bringing warm, sunny conditions to the region — to a low-pressure system over the Gulf of Alaska, she said.