Alaska News

Parks Highway again closed overnight as crews continue clearing avalanche debris north of Cantwell

An avalanche north of Cantwell closed the Parks Highway at Mile 219 on Friday morning, Jan. 24, 2025. (Photo provided by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)

Update Sunday, 5:30 p.m.: A stretch of the Parks Highway north of Cantwell remained closed Sunday night as crews worked to clear debris following an avalanche on Friday. The highway will be closed from 5 p.m. Sunday to 8 a.m. Monday, according to a social media post by the Alaska Department of Transportation of Public Facilities.

The road had been open with pilot vehicles through the day.

Heavy snow in the area was making for otherwise difficult driving conditions, the department reported.

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Earlier story: An avalanche Friday on the Parks Highway north of Cantwell prompted extended closures with limited traffic access through the weekend as crews worked to clear debris and mitigate hazards in the face of additional slides.

Pilot cars started running through the area Saturday morning to allow drivers limited access, then halted around 5 p.m. for an overnight closure because of continued slide activity, state transportation officials said.

“Closure at 5 p.m. ensures safety, as daylight is needed for monitoring,” the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities said in an update on social media, noting that pilot cars were “stopping traffic 5-7 miles from the slide zone.”

The state transportation department said on its Alaska 511 website that crews would begin piloting traffic at 8 a.m. Sunday, continuing through the day while officials performed ongoing assessment of avalanche conditions.

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The avalanche at Mile 219, between Cantwell and the entrance to Denali National Park and Preserve, initially closed the Parks Highway on Friday morning. Crews worked through the day and night to clear 6-foot-deep debris from the road, and the avalanche was estimated to be 40 feet wide and between 400 and 500 feet long, the state transportation department said.

The department said on social media that crews working at the site of the slide described “wet, compacted snow, poor traction, and rocks as large as loader tires.”

A large boulder remained in the roadway Saturday, which may require blasting to clear from the highway, and two additional avalanches had occurred, slowing operations, the state transportation department said.

State officials said drivers can check the Alaska 511 website for the latest information on road closures.

Between 4 and 8 inches of snow was forecast to fall in the area through Sunday.

⚠️ 3:00 ᴘ.ᴍ. ꜱᴀᴛᴜʀᴅᴀʏ, 1/25 #ᴀᴠᴀʟᴀɴᴄʜᴇ ᴍᴘ 219 ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ: On Friday, Jan. 24, a natural #avalanche north of #Cantwell...

Posted by Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities on Saturday, January 25, 2025

On Friday morning, the Alaska Department of Public Safety had said that it had been “receiving reports of dozens of vehicles in the ditch and collisions” across Interior Alaska. The icy road conditions prompted the agency to post an advisory urging people in the Interior to drive only “if absolutely necessary.”

Heavy precipitation and wind in Southcentral

Elsewhere in Alaska, a high wind warning was in effect through Sunday morning for Anchorage, Eagle River and Turnagain Arm as a flood watch was in place across an even larger swath of Southcentral Alaska.

Heavy precipitation and warmer weather in the weekend forecast prompted the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center to issue a backcountry avalanche warning in effect through 6 p.m. Sunday for the Western Chugach and Kenai Mountains, including Chugach State Park, Girdwood, Portage Valley, Turnagain Pass, Summit Lake, Moose Pass, Lost Lake and Seward.

➡️ The Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center has issued an Avalanche Warning for the Chugach State Park,...

Posted by US National Weather Service Anchorage Alaska on Friday, January 24, 2025

The avalanche center said that human-triggered and natural slides were likely due to a combination of heavy rain and snowfall along with strong winds, and traveling in avalanche terrain wasn’t recommended while danger remained high. The avalanche center also said roof avalanches were likely, and recommended monitoring children, pets and others under roofs shedding snow.

In its Saturday forecast, the Chugach avalanche center said that “Turnagain Pass may see 1.5″ of water falling as snow (8″ to 14″) above 2000′. Large natural avalanches in the new snow and windblown snow 2 to 4′ deep will be likely.”

The state transportation department said avalanche mitigation work was scheduled to take place Sunday morning from Mile 95 to 100 of the Seward Highway, near Bird flats between Anchorage and Girdwood, and on Sunday afternoon around Mile 37 and 38 of the Seward Highway, in the area where it connects to the Sterling Highway. Traffic delays could last up to 45 minutes or an hour.

Near Palmer, Hatcher Pass Road was closed ahead of the weekend at Mile 14 — by the Gold Mint parking lot — as a precaution due to avalanche danger. A small avalanche had crossed the road Friday, followed by another slide Saturday that extended the road’s closure to Mile 10.8, with no traffic allowed starting just past the entrance to Skeetawk ski area, state transportation officials said.

The Hatcher Pass Road closure was expected to last at least through the weekend.

Another avalanche in the area on Saturday ran over 2,500 feet from Arkose Ridge down a waterfall path, depositing 30 feet of debris in the Little Susitna River, the Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center said. The slide effectively dammed the river, flooding the Government Peak Campground.

❄️ ⚠️ 1/25/25 Forecaster Observation ⚠️ ❄️ Natural avalanche activity continues to increase in size and distribution...

Posted by Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center on Saturday, January 25, 2025

The Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center posted a backcountry avalanche warning in effect through 7 a.m. Sunday. Danger was high at all elevations, with numerous large slides observed after the area received over 30 inches of snow with 7 inches of snow-water equivalent in recent days, the avalanche center said, discouraging travel in avalanche terrain.

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