Environment

Avalanche professionals are warning backcountry adventurers to stay out of risky terrain after snow slammed the Upper Lynn Canal in late December.

National Weather Service data shows the storm dumped at least 44 inches of snow in Haines, making it the sixth snowiest five-day period in more than two decades. Other reports documented closer to six or seven feet.

“It was definitely one of the higher snowfalls you’ve gotten in five days, pretty much out of all your time that the station’s been there,” said Juneau-based meteorologist Edward Liske.

The dumping has created a risky situation in the backcountry that warrants extreme caution, said Jeff Moskowitz, the director of the Haines Avalanche Center.

His main message: “Avoid being in or around avalanche terrain.”

Earlier this week, Moskowitz dug a snow pit in front of Haines’ historic Fort Seward that confirmed his assessment. Standing chest-deep in the pit, he pointed out layers of snow stacked on top of each other, each representing a different storm.

There was a somewhat fluffy layer on top, from the snowfall in early January. Below that, there was a roughly three-foot-deep layer that was more compact, from the late December storm.

And then there was a thin, feeble layer of snow just inches from the ground that crumbled like sugar when Moskowitz ran his hand through it. That snow was on the ground before the big storm – it’s the layer that could collapse and trigger an avalanche under the weight of more precipitation, snowmachines or humans.

“We have about a meter of really strong snow just sitting over this sugar,” Moskowitz said, calling it a “dangerous combination for avalanches.”

Starting Dec. 27, the situation prompted the center to issue warnings about high avalanche risk in the Haines area. Moskowitz said people should stay off slopes that are greater than 30 degrees – and avoid traveling beneath them.

“It’s just a tricky situation, because there’s lots of snow, and we want to go play,” he said. “But we still have this strong-over-weak layering in most places.”

In some places, he said, the weak layer may be buried so deep that a human or snowmachine wouldn’t trigger it. But in shallower areas, like near trees or rocks. the layer would be closer to the surface and more likely to trigger an avalanche.

“People could ride that slope numerous times until one person finds that weak spot,” he said.

The deluge has stopped for now. But the situation could get worse before it gets better, as temperatures rise and the top layer of snow consolidates into a heavier, thicker slab. New precipitation or other conditions could trigger a natural avalanche cycle, wiping that weak layer out.

“Otherwise, it’s a little bit like a ticking time bomb,” Moskowitz said.

Haines Avalanche Center

The Haines Avalanche Center is a nonprofit and the main source of avalanche information in the Chilkat Valley, which draws backcountry adventurers from around the world. Moskowitz emphasized the importance of donations, grants and borough funding to make that work possible.

In the past, the Haines Borough has asked nonprofits to apply for funding from a $100,000 bucket. But Haines Mayor Tom Morphet said that, amid a steep budget deficit, the assembly discontinued that grant process for fiscal year 2026, which runs through June.

That has meant less funding than usual for the Avalanche Center, which has just three part-time employees, including Moskowitz.

“Less funding means less staff time,” Moskowitz said. “And staff time means that locals who are avalanche professionals and have certifications are out there, digging in the snow, making assessments, posting that information publicly.”

The center posts a general avalanche information product every week, plus a weather forecast and season summary. They also issue advisories when avalanche danger is high, including three days in a row in late December.

But the center does not currently have the funding or staff capacity to consistently publish advisories when avalanche risk is low, moderate or considerable.

“What we don’t want, is that there’s an accident that sparks the public interest in supporting the Avalanche Center,” Moskowitz said. “We just need to maintain the services we provide and just keep it going year after year after year.”

Morphet, the mayor, said the borough and assembly are “acutely aware” of the center’s importance.

Moskowitz said people who recreate in the backcountry can help by paying close attention to their surroundings – and he urged them to send in their observations online.

That could mean details about a human-triggered or natural avalanche, about where the sun has hit the mountains on a particular day, or an observation that feathery crystals – known as surface hoar – have started forming on the snow’s surface.

“There’s very little information that we’re not going to find useful,” Moskowitz said. “All of that is very valuable, and it helps to inform this bigger picture.”

Update, 10:00 a.m.

The City and Borough of Juneau has lifted the remaining avalanche evacuation advisory for the neighborhood below the Behrends Path.

“Risk from avalanche hazard remains elevated and future evacuation advisories are possible. CBJ is actively monitoring and assessing avalanche risk for all other known slide paths and will provide updates as conditions continue to change,” the city wrote in an update. 

The Alaska Department of Transportation has also reopened Thane Road.

Update, Wednesday 9:30 a.m.

After heavy rain and warm temperatures at elevation Tuesday, no avalanche activity has been reported as of Wednesday morning. To better assess current avalanche conditions, officials are waiting to conduct a visual inspection and assessment of the Behrends Path during daylight hours, according to the City and Borough of Juneau. The city will provide updates as they are available.

Update, 11:45 a.m.

The city has updated its avalanche advisory page: “Avalanche risk on the Behrends path is increasing significantly and will peak late today and into tomorrow morning due to heavy rain, high winds and warming temperatures at high elevation.”

An evacuation shelter remains open at Centennial Hall. The city urges people in the Behrends pathway who have not evacuated or have returned to their homes to evacuate now.

Update, Tuesday 10:00 a.m.

The Alaska Department of Transportation will close Thane Road at the avalanche gates today at noon due to elevated avalanche risk.

Update, Monday 7:00 p.m.

All schools in the Juneau School District, including Mendenhall River Community School, are expected to open for in-person classes on Tuesday. This is the first time all schools will be open since the district returned from winter break last Monday.

According to a district email, school buses will run on regular routes, but buses won’t be able to go to these locations:

• 5th Street in Douglas
• Glacier Highway between Highland Drive and Bartlett Regional Hospital
• Thane Road 
• Any trailer parks
• Mendenhall Peninsula Road

The district said families with students who normally leave from trailer parks should call First Student at 907-789-7352 to coordinate pick up.

Parking continues to be unavailable along Glacier Avenue near Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé. The district encourages students to take the school bus to and from school. Students can also park at Thunder Mountain Middle School and take a school bus from there.

Update, 8:00 p.m. 

Mendenhall River Community School will remain closed Monday as crews continue snow removal efforts. MRCS students will move to remote learning. All other schools in the Juneau School District will be open with regular schedules Monday.

More rain is expected early Tuesday, when another storm could come through Juneau. The National Weather Service has issued a high wind watch starting Tuesday evening. 

City facilities, including libraries and pools, will reopen Monday after being closed since Friday. 

Update, 7:15 p.m. 

The city has rescinded the avalanche evacuation alert for all known slide paths except for Behrends Avenue. Centennial Hall remains open as an evacuation shelter.

Free parking in downtown city-owned parking garages will end Monday at 8 a.m. Anyone who took advantage of the free parking while the city allowed it should move their car before then if they don’t have a permit to park in the Marine or Downtown Transit Center parking garages, otherwise they may be ticketed.

Update, 1:00 p.m. 

Fred Meyer grocery store is open after being closed for several days due to concerns about snow load on the roof.

Update, Sunday 11:30 a.m. 

The Flood Advisory has ended and Thane Road has reopened, though closures are still possible.

Update, 7:00 p.m. 

The National Weather Service has extended its flood advisory to 10 a.m. Sunday.

It was initially set to end at 9 p.m. on Saturday. NWS reports that water continues to pool on side streets and low-lying areas.

-Alix Soliman

Update, 6:45 p.m. 

The emergency warming shelter is moving from the Glacier Valley Elementary School gym back to the warehouse off of Thane Road tonight. The shelter will reopen at 9 p.m.

The shelter moved to the school Friday night due to avalanche concerns. Deputy City Manager Robert Barr told KTOO that drone assessments made today by the Alaska Department of Transportation showed avalanche risk has decreased in that specific area. 

“Our conclusion is that the amount of snow left in that path is extremely unlikely to cross Thane Road and impact that facility,” Barr said.

But he said avalanche risk remains high in all other known avalanche zones, including Thane Road south of the avalanche gates and the Behrends and White slide paths. An avalanche evacuation advisory remains in effect for those areas and Thane Road is still closed past the gates. 

“We’ll continue to monitor, assess and communicate risk about all of those other slide paths,” Barr said.

The emergency shelter at Centennial Hall remains open for people evacuating their homes due to unsafe conditions.

– Alix Soliman

Update, Saturday 1:40 p.m.

The City and Borough of Juneau continues to monitor roof loads and the safety of its public buildings as some roofs increase in weight and others decrease.

The city has teams working at Mendenhall River Community School, as well as at Bartlett Regional Hospital, where roof loads are nearing capacity. 

Sixty people are currently working to clear the hospital’s roof, said Bartlett CEO Joe Wanner during a press briefing Saturday morning.

“We’re predominantly focused on patient care areas that have the highest loads. You know, we’re kind of looking at buildings that are showing stress at this point, which will be our admin building,” Wanner said. 

He asked people going to the hospital to not park near the buildings.

“We will be offloading the roofs onto the areas next to the buildings. We will try to put cones and barriers up to mark those areas, but I just ask everyone to stay out of those areas.” 

Wanner added that many parking spots have been closed off due to the massive amounts of snow, and a lot of heavy machinery is moving around the area. 

“At this point, everything is moving in the right direction, and so we don’t anticipate any changes to services as of today,” he said. 

In other infrastructure updates, the city moved the location of its emergency warming shelter from its facility in Thane due to avalanche hazard. First, the shelter was moved to Marie Drake building midday Friday, then to Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx – Glacier Valley Elementary. The elementary school had previously been closed earlier this week due to roof snow removal.

“That ended up being the only JSD/CBJ facility that was tenable for that space,” Deputy City Manager Robert Barr said during the Saturday press conference. 

Barr said the city is actively figuring out another CBJ location for the warming shelter if avalanche risk continues and Thane continues to not be an option.

“There is no scenario where the warming shelter will continue to exist at a school once a school is in operation again, so it will be moving from Glacier Valley. We are working on whether or not that move can happen today or if that move must happen tomorrow. But one of those two things is our goal for that operation,” he said.

– Lisa Phu

Correction: Capital Transit is not running between Bartlett Regional Hospital and the Federal Building. 

Update, 1:15 p.m.

Juneau continues to face flooding and avalanches, with more rain expected Saturday.

Aaron Jacobs, senior service hydrologist at the National Weather Service in Juneau, said the weather pattern the city has seen — with record-breaking early-season snowfall followed by warmer temperatures and rain — is uncommon for Juneau.

“These are unprecedented times,” Jacobs said at a press briefing Saturday morning. “The amount of snowpack that we are seeing on the ground at the airport, and then this massive warm-up that we’re seeing, really hasn’t been seen in the climate records.”

Jacobs said extreme weather events are expected to happen more often due to climate change, but he can’t tie a short-term weather pattern directly to long-term climate trends.

A flood advisory is in effect until 9 p.m. Saturday. NWS encourages residents to report weather-related impacts to juneau.weather@noaa.gov.

Jacobs said this atmospheric river brought about 4 to 8 inches of snow, followed by 1 to 2 inches of rain so far, and winds up to around 35 miles per hour at sea level and up to 60 miles per hour at Eaglecrest. More rain is expected today, and another storm could come through Juneau next week.

Deputy City Manager Robert Barr said that flooding due to clogged storm drains is already impacting buildings, but the city doesn’t yet have a grasp of the extent.

“Water is starting to move into buildings and structures and basements,” Barr said. “We know that water is very damaging to facilities. It’s important to document.”

The city is asking residents to submit damage reports to emergencyresponse@juneau.gov.

Barr said residents who witness flooding on city-owned roads before 4 p.m. should call (907) 586-5256.

For urgent flooding on all roads, or after 4 p.m., residents can call the Juneau Police Department non-emergency line at (907) 586-0600.

For flooding on Alaska DOT&PF roads, leave a message at: (907) 465-4655

An avalanche evacuation advisory is still in effect for residents in all known slide paths downtown and along Thane Road. Centennial Hall remains open as an emergency shelter.

John Bressette, the city’s new avalanche advisor, said multiple avalanches happened on Mount Juneau on known slide paths including White Pass, Chop Gully near Flume Trail and above Behrends Avenue. He said he doesn’t know exactly how many occurred, but that it’s somewhere in the double-digits.

He said avalanche conditions stabilized a bit overnight when temperatures cooled and rain stopped. But the hazard is high again today.

“We are expecting things to ramp back up today as rain comes back in,” Bressette said.

Thane Road remains closed. Pat Dryer is an avalanche forecaster at the Alaska Department of Transportation. According to the agency’s infrasound detection system, he said eight to 10 avalanches came near Thane Road yesterday.

“The hazard remains elevated above Thane Road, and we’ll be conducting drone reconnaissance in partnership with CBJ this afternoon to further assess current conditions,” he said.

The city advises residents living in an avalanche zone to remain clear of those areas until the city advises otherwise.

Barr said that it’s still too early to know how much this disaster will cost in resources and damages. “All I can tell you right now is that it is going to be substantial. We’re talking in the millions of dollars,” he said.

– Alix Soliman

Update, Saturday 10:00 a.m.

The City and Borough of Juneau will hold another briefing at 10:30 a.m. today about avalanche risk and ongoing storm response. City, state and tribal staff will share information and the National Weather Service will provide an update. Tune in live on the radio 104.3 FM or 91.7 FM or watch here.

Thane Road currently remains closed at the avalanche gates.

The Juneau Arts and Culture Center will be closed today in order to serve as a supplemental emergency shelter if necessary. According to the city, 47 people stayed at Centennial Hall last night.

Update, 9:45 p.m.

Eaglecrest Ski Area has posted an uphill travel closure beginning at 6 a.m. Saturday while crews work on avalanche mitigation. More conditions and status updates can be found here.

Update, 8:30 p.m.

All City and Borough of Juneau facilities will be closed Saturday and Sunday. That includes all public libraries, the Juneau Douglas City Museum, pools and parks and recreation facilities and the recycling center and hazardous waste facility. The Shéiyi X̱aat Hit Youth Shelter will remain open.

Update, 7:45 p.m.

The avalanche evacuation advisory remains in effect. As a reminder, The American Red Cross of Alaska has opened an emergency shelter at Centennial Hall (101 Egan Drive) for those evacuating the avalanche hazard area. Mass care support, feeding services and pet sheltering are available at Centennial Hall.

Parking is available in the lot between Juneau Arts & Culture Center and Centennial Hall. Residents with questions, concerns, or that have been displaced from their home due to the winter storm can call 1-800-RED-CROS for information and follow-up. According to a City and Borough of Juneau public service announcement, residents that are unable to vacate their homes and need transportation assistance to access emergency sheltering should call 911 for assistance.

Update, 7 p.m.

Update, 6:30 p.m.:

According to a city release, the winter emergency warming shelter operated by St. Vincent De Paul is not moving to Marie Drake due to unsafe conditions. Instead, it’s moving from its previous location within the known avalanche hazard area at 1325 Eastaugh Way off of Thane Road to Glacier Valley Elementary School. The shelter will be open at 9:00 p.m.

“The roofs at both Centennial Hall and GVES have been surveyed by a structural engineer and deemed safe for occupancy,” the release says.

Update, 6:15 p.m.:

The Alaska Department of Transportation has detected several slides in the Thane Road area.

Update, 3:25 p.m.:

The emergency warming shelter located on Thane Road is relocating due to avalanche danger.

Update, 3:00 p.m.:

The city is warning residents that roads are beginning to flood, and the snow on roofs is getting heavier.

At the city briefing earlier, National Weather Service meteorologist Nicole Ferrin said the heaviest rain is expected to fall throughout the day Friday into the evening. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch across Southeast Alaska this morning that will last through the weekend. 

“We do have a flood watch that remains in effect for localized flooding, ponding of water on roadways and other hazards that can come out of that, like hydroplaning and things like that,” she said.

The existing snowpack, with some berms over five feet tall in parts of town, is blocking drainage on roads. She said cars can get stuck in the high water, which residents are sharing videos of on social media.

 

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“If you’re not sure how deep the water is across a roadway or otherwise, or if you don’t know if your vehicle can make it through, then find an alternate route,” Ferrin said. “If your tailpipe is reaching the level of the water, then you could easily get stuck and cause more issues there also.”

And as the rain falls, the existing snowpack absorbs it “like a sponge” making it heavier, Ferrin said that additional weight may increase the risk of roofs collapsing.

The city advises anyone who is not in an avalanche evacuation area to stay at home and off the roads while crews work to clear storm drains and make them safe for travel again.

-Yvonne Krumrey

Update, 12:30 p.m.:

Capital Transit has suspended service along Glacier Highway in areas in the avalanche zone.

“Our team at Capital Transit has suspended bus service along Glacier Highway in that avalanche area … that really looks like between the federal building and the hospital on Glacier Highway,” said Ryan O’Shaughnessy, the emergency programs manager for the City and Borough of Juneau, during the city’s briefing Friday. “Capital Transit routes are still running on Egan, but stops that are located along Glacier Highway are not being serviced at this time due to avalanche risk.”

Update, 11 a.m.:

An avalanche evacuation alert has been issued for all downtown Juneau residents in slide zones. An emergency shelter is being set up at Centennial Hall in downtown Juneau.

“This evacuation advisory is made with the safety of Juneau residents in mind,” the alert from the City and Borough of Juneau reads. “This decision is not made lightly and CBJ realizes that evacuating under extreme weather conditions may be difficult. Again, the safety of Juneau residents is our main factor in making this evacuation advisory.”

Update, Friday 10 a.m.:

The City and Borough of Juneau will hold a presentation at 11:30 a.m. about avalanche risk and ongoing storm response.

City, state and tribal staff will share information and the National Weather Service will provide an update. Tune in live on the radio 104.3 FM or 91.7 FM or watch here.

Update, Thursday 6:45 p.m.:

All Juneau schools are closed Friday in anticipation of heavy rain and snow.

The Juneau School District notified parents and staff of the closure Thursday night and said that no remote instruction will take place Friday.

“For the safety of our students, staff and families, all classes, meetings, and activities are canceled. The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Hockey games at Treadwell are also canceled.”

City engineers and maintenance staff will continue to monitor the roofs of school facilities.

The University of Alaska Southeast’s Juneau campus will also operate remotely Friday.

All City and Borough of Juneau facilities are closed Friday as well. That includes city hall, city offices, public libraries and parks and recreation facilities.

Residents are once again encouraged to stay off the roads. Capital Transit will continue running on winter routes.

Update, Thursday 6 p.m.:

The City & Borough of Juneau sent out an alert Thursday evening warning residents that the avalanche risk is “very likely to significantly increase” in the next 24 hours due to the atmospheric river making landfall. The alert is not an evacuation advisory. 

The Alaska Department of Transportation will close Thane Road Friday at noon and will re-evaluate the closure at 8 a.m. on Saturday. But the city said in its alert that Thane residents should be prepared for extended road closures.

Original story:

As the state of Alaska responds to Juneau’s disaster declaration, the capital city is bracing for heavy rain and potential flooding from an atmospheric river expected to hit Southeast late Thursday night. 

This comes after back-to-back snowstorms dumped more than four feet of snow on Juneau. The city and tribal governments issued a joint disaster declaration Tuesday, requesting help from the state as local resources have been stretched thin. 

The National Weather Service issued a flood watch in Juneau for Friday morning through Saturday evening. 

At a press conference held in coordination with city, state and tribal officials Wednesday evening, NWS Warning Coordination Meteorologist Nicole Ferrin said the agency expects the storm to bring both snow and rain to Juneau. 

“The most likely scenario right now is for anywhere from four to five inches of snow out of that event,” Ferrin said. “But if the warm-up takes a little bit longer into the day on Friday, then we could see upwards of possibly seven inches of snow before we change to rain.”

She says the heaviest rain is expected to hit Juneau on Friday. 

Streets have already been pooling with water due to warming temperatures and rain, and Ferrin said to expect road conditions to worsen with the deluge coming while snow and ice block drainage. 

But she said the agency is not expecting snowmelt to cause much of the flooding at this point. 

“The snow itself will absorb a lot of the water, because we had some dry layers in there initially,” she said. 

Yesterday, Gov. Mike Dunleavy verbally approved Juneau’s disaster declaration. 

“That verbal declaration carries the weight of law,” said Jeremy Zidek, a spokesperson for Alaska’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, during the press briefing. “He activated the state’s public assistance program, which is to fund repairs to damaged critical infrastructure and also to help with emergency response costs.”

In addition to helping clear roofs of public buildings like schools, water treatment facilities and Bartlett Regional Hospital, the state also plans to help dig out storm drains and fire hydrants. 

But state and city officials said that the assistance from this declaration will not include helping local residents or businesses clear snow from their roofs. 

“The declaration and assistance from the state is unfortunately not available to help clear snow from private residences or commercial properties,” said Deputy City Manager Robert Barr at a special Juneau Assembly meeting Wednesday evening, where the city adopted a resolution approving the disaster declaration.

Barr said the state’s individual assistance program is designed to help private residences, but only after property has been damaged. The program doesn’t prevent damage.

Barr said the city has been prioritizing shoveling the roofs of public buildings based on how close each building is to its designed snow load capacity, which he said staff have been measuring daily or sometimes more often. 

“Some are quite close, very few — only one that I’m aware of right now — are over [weight capacity],” Barr said. “That’s the Auke Bay Fire Station. So we’ve limited occupancy to that, and we’ll be addressing it as quickly as we can.”

Pat Dryer, an avalanche forecaster at the Alaska Department of Transportation, said the agency is anticipating road closures due to the potential for large avalanches. 

“Given the current weather outlook, we’re anticipating heavy snowfall, heavy rain and warming temperatures at higher elevations,” he said. “This will lead to rapid rises in avalanche hazard, specifically for Thane Road.”

City officials said that state assistance could include committing additional personnel to the avalanche hazard, flying helicopter-mounted LIDAR flights to monitor the risk and potentially ordering radar systems. 

This is a developing story. Check back for updates. 

Juneau’s Fred Meyer store closed yet again on Wednesday amid concerns about the heavy snow load on the roof following recent record-breaking snowstorms and cold temperatures. 

The closure began Tuesday evening when shoppers reported on social media that they were evacuated from the building. 

Tiffany Sanders, a spokesperson for Fred Meyer, said the closure is “out of an abundance of caution” while staff remove snow and address building maintenance. She did not say when the store would reopen.  

The store was already closed for multiple days last week due to concerns about the weight of the snow on the roof. The Fred Meyer gas station’s awning partially collapsed last week. Now, the station is partially reopened.

The recent heavy snow and rain in the capital city have caused several collapsed roofs across towns. On Tuesday, the roof of the Bill Ray Center, an empty building on F Street downtown, collapsed under the weight of the snow. 

Other businesses in Juneau have closed their doors as well. Nugget Mall has been closed since late last week due to safety concerns. That includes stores like Petco, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Office Max. 

“We are continuing to monitor snow load daily in coordination with structural engineers and qualified contractors,” the Nugget Mall owners wrote in a social media post on Wednesday. “Safety is and will remain the priority. That includes the safety of contractors, tenants, employees, and customers.”

The state also announced on Wednesday that the building that houses Juneau’s Department of Motor Vehicles was closed due to snow load concerns.

On Tuesday night, city and tribal leaders announced a joint disaster declaration and are asking for assistance from the state with snow removal.

The City and Borough of Juneau held a presentation at 4 p.m. Wednesday about the city’s disaster declaration and ongoing avalanche risk.

City, state and tribal staff shared information about the ongoing snowstorm response and the National Weather Service provided an update on the heavy rain expected to arrive later this week.

Future assessments of U.S. landslide hazards could include the study of risks posed by atmospheric rivers, which caused extreme precipitation that was linked to recent deadly slides in Southeast Alaska.

The added focus on atmospheric rivers is one of the main updates in a bill that would reauthorize the National Landslide Preparedness Act. The bill, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, passed the U.S. Senate on Monday and is now to be considered by the U.S. House.

The initial National Landslide Preparedness Act was signed into law five years ago. That bill broadened the National Landslide Hazards Program led by the U.S. Geological Survey and established a multiagency system to coordinate landslide preparedness and response.

Atmospheric rivers are long and transitory bands of moisture and heat, likened to rivers in the sky. They carry that moisture northward from more southern latitudes, and they can dump vast amounts of rain for several hours or even days.

“You can very rapidly saturate soils in the right conditions,” said Rick Thoman, a scientist with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Preparedness at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

When such large amounts of warm southern moisture hit the steep mountainous regions of Southeast Alaska, they can cause sudden downhill flows, Thoman said.

“It’s really that intense amount of rain that atmospheric rivers deliver that’s the link to landslides,” he said.

Numerous landslides in the United States have been triggered by atmospheric rivers’ extreme precipitation. Those events include the 2023 slide in Wrangell that killed six people, the 2020 slide in Haines that killed two people and the 2015 slide in Sitka that killed three people.

The National Landslide Preparedness Act Reauthorization Act passed the Senate by unanimous consent. It is co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, whose state was the site of the 2014 Oso landslide that killed 43 people.

Extreme precipitation events from atmospheric rivers are tied to shallow-seated landslides such as the deadly events that struck Southeast Alaska in recent years. Other types of Alaska landslides are caused by more deep-seated slope failures triggered by glacial retreat, permafrost thaw or a combination of those forces.

Also passed on Monday by unanimous consent in the Senate was another Murkowski-sponsored and disaster-focused bill, the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act. That bill, co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, supports the federal program that maintains earthquake measurement resources and equipment and equipment and early warning systems.

“Earthquakes and landslides are active threats that have taken lives and damaged property across Alaska in recent years,” Murkowski said in a statement issued Tuesday. “Our passage of these bills puts us on track to ensure that federal agencies have the resources they need to help keep communities safe both back home and around the country. I thank my colleagues for working cooperatively to pass these measures and urge the House to take them up and send them to the President as soon as possible.”

City and tribal leaders in Juneau announced a disaster declaration last night.  

The declaration opens the doors for the city to request aid from the state. The mayor said that Gov. Mike Dunleavy has verbally approved the request and will send a state emergency management specialist Thursday.

Last week, the capital city was inundated with more than four feet of snow after prolonged cold temperatures. Then another storm hit beginning Sunday, with snow turning to rain on Tuesday. Now, the city is bracing for another storm expected to bring heavy rain this weekend. 

In a joint letter, Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska President Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson and Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon said both entities have exhausted their resources and need additional help. 

The letter asks the state to assist by providing equipment and personnel to clear snow from the roofs of public buildings, fire hydrants and storm drains. 

The heavy snow has collapsed some roofs across town and multiple boats have sunk at Juneau’s harbors. 

Ryan O’Shaughnessy, the city’s emergency programs manager, said one of his main concerns is that the snow could collapse the roofs of public buildings like schools, water treatment plants and the hospital.

“We’ve been working really closely with our insurers, with our Engineering and Public Works Department and licensed engineers to determine the load on the roofs of critical facilities, and in many cases, we are approaching the designed snow load of those facilities,” he said. 

Nicole Ferrin, the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Juneau, said the weight of snow on a flat roof could be around 41.6 pounds per square foot based on a ground measurement made Wednesday morning. 

That’s increased by about a pound-and-half per square-foot since Tuesday.

“That measurement is for the back of the Valley,” Ferrin said. “Other parts of town had different amounts of snow and/or rain in the last week.” 

She added that the pitch of a roof can also influence how much snow it’s holding. 

The declaration letter also requests help with avalanche monitoring and mitigation. Multiple neighborhoods in the downtown area have been on alert for high avalanche risk since Dec. 30.

Officials from the city, Tlingit and Haida, National Weather Service, and Alaska Department of Transportation will hold a press briefing at 4:00 p.m. Wednesday to share information about avalanche risk, the coming atmospheric river and state assistance. City officials said that representatives from the State of Alaska Emergency Operations Center will also be at the briefing.

The Assembly will hold a special meeting Wednesday evening at 5:15 p.m. to adopt a resolution officially approving the declaration.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.