The first major snowfall of the season has led to closures and power outages across the Kenai Peninsula.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District closed more than 20 schools on the central and east peninsula. The district made the announcement on Facebook just before 5 a.m.
Kenai Peninsula College announced the closure of its Soldotna campus at 10:30 this morning. Anchorage and Mat-Su schools also switched to remote learning for the day because of hazardous conditions.
The peninsula’s major highways also closed amid snowy conditions. Alaska State Troopers said in an alert this morning that difficult winter driving conditions existed across the peninsula, with between 7 and 22 inches of snow falling in the region.
On the north end of the Sterling Highway, troopers said this morning, 24 inches of snow made the road impassible. The Seward Highway was also unnavigable, due to snowfall and stranded vehicles. As of 3 p.m., both highways are open, but described as having difficult road conditions.
The snowfall also led to widespread power outages. Around 8:30 this morning, Homer Electric Association announced that 5,700 customers across the central peninsula were experiencing outages.
As of 3 p.m. HEA is showing about 3,000 affected customers, most of them in Kalifornsky, the Ridgeway area and Sterling. HEA issued a warning on Facebook this afternoon about downed power lines, and warned commuters not to drive over them. You can check HEA’s outage map here.
Chugach Electric, which serves parts of the east peninsula, is reporting outages in Sunrise, Cooper Landing and Moose Pass.
The National Weather Service is forecasting a chance of more snow over the next couple days, though schools are already closed tomorrow for Veterans Day.
