Update: 8:20 p.m.
Thane Road reopened at 5:00 p.m. and the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities plans to conduct avalanche hazard reduction when conditions allow in the coming days.
Original Story
Juneau’s Thane Road remains closed until further notice amid high winds that have raised the risk of avalanches. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities observed eight natural avalanches Tuesday between Thane and Mount Juneau.
The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory, in effect until 6 p.m. Thursday.
DOT’s Sonny Mauricio said the wind has stopped the department from triggering avalanches on purpose to reduce the risk of natural slides.
“We’ve been seeing 50-mile-per-hour winds with gusts up to 95 miles-per-hour, which is moving a lot of snow around up there,” Mauricio said. “Due to that wind, we were unable to perform our planned avalanche hazard reduction mission.”
The department initially closed the road on Monday afternoon to attempt the mission. Staff planned to use a remote-operated drone that would drop small explosives into the snowpack. The road closed again Tuesday and Mauricio said DOT staff tried again, but the wind still prevented them.
The department advises residents not to enter the Thane Road avalanche zone, and said in a statement that it will reassess the road closure Wednesday at 8 p.m.
John Bressette, the avalanche advisor for the City & Borough of Juneau, posted an update on the city’s website Wednesday morning indicating that natural avalanches are likely. He wrote that they can produce large powder clouds, but the debris isn’t expected to hit homes.
According to Bressette’s daily updates, numerous small avalanches have occurred across downtown Juneau’s known slide paths over the past week, but none have damaged infrastructure.
