Lightning is unusual in a city that, according to the National Weather Service, sees fewer than two thunderstorms a year. It was the first time the power company had seen a lightning-related power outage in 15 years.
Jeffrey Cheng, 33, died in the slide. One of his friends managed to hold on to a tree as waves of avalanche debris washed over his head. The third member of their group wasn’t caught.
It’s not dangerous at this point to drive on the Sterling Highway, though smoke may reduce visibility.
It's possible the trio’s canoe was upset by a calving, or shedding, piece of ice. Although all three were wearing life jackets, none was wearing a wetsuit to protect against the frigid water.
The fire had reached 90% containment by Thursday evening, according to the Alaska Division of Forestry.
Hundreds of people have combed the terrain near Big Lake, but there’s still no sign of LaVerne and Van Pettigen.
Looking over a longer time span, bears in the southern Beaufort Sea are now using land to an extent they haven’t used it historically,” a researcher said.
The whale is located in an inaccessible place where scientists are unable to take a necropsy.
The National Weather Service forecast wind gusts up to 50 mph in some places and whiteout conditions.
“Smoke concentrations will be such that they could impact public health at times, according to an advisory issued by the state Division of Air Quality.
Some are concerned about the farmed Atlantic salmon coming to Alaska and bringing unwelcome competition for native species.
The rehabilitation center in Seward doesn’t usually get bearded seals, which live much farther north.
Sea star wasting disease, a type of densovirus, reduced the count of sea stars in Kachemak Bay from 180 last spring to a measly five this year.
As of Friday afternoon, the sockeye escapement in the Chignik salmon fishery was less than half of what it usually is this time of the year.
“When I first started six years ago, icebergs like this were more common,” says a tour boat captain on the lake near Anchorage.
The statewide average temperature in December was 19.4 degrees, 15.7 degrees above the 20th century average.
A September storm caused damage in Utqiagvik, and Gov. Bill Walker declared a disaster there last month.
Previously, the dredging started around May and ran through October, but the past three winters it has started earlier and run longer.
Anchorage sidewalks were slick with ice and the roads were full of puddles because of unseasonably high temperatures.By mid morning the temperature had reached 46 degrees.
Fishing businesses in Mat-Su warned that the rules could hurt the state's tourism economy.
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