Avalanche closes sole highway out of Anchorage (Kenai, Sterling: dangerous, moving)

[allenbell35]

Avalanche closes sole highway out of Anchorage - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/avalanche-closes-sole-highway-anchorage-220424454.html - broken link)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - The sole highway leading south from Anchorage was closed on Thursday after an early-morning avalanche swept through the mountains and over the road, state officials said.

Authorities said it was unknown how long the Seward Highway would remain closed, essentially cutting off travel between Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula cities of Seward and Homer.

There were no reports of injuries following the 100-foot-wide avalanche, which swept down one day after a separate snow slide briefly closed the highway in the southern outskirts of Anchorage.

Rapidly warming temperatures, high winds and new snow and rain have created dangerous avalanche conditions throughout the region's Chugach Mountains, which are already loaded with near-record amounts of snow.

"We consider the risk level at `considerable' at this point in time," said Rick Feller, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities

[gobrien]

That's horrible but wonder who wrote the headline, because that is the sole highway out of Anchorage to the Kenai Penninsula but not the sole highway out of Anchorage. Sorry for the nitpicking, my journalism teachers would have hated modern journalism.

[starlite9]

That happens all the time, it's winter... And it snows!

The road will be closed for hours, maybe a day. They have all the equipment for removing slides like that ready each winter.

[Glitch]

2 major Alaska highways reopen after avalanche

An avalanche shut down both directions of the Seward Highway about 7 a.m. at its juncture with the Sterling Highway, the Alaska Department of Transportation said. The slide was estimated to be between 3 and 10 feet deep and 100 feet wide, considered a small to medium-sized avalanche.

Seward Highway connects Anchorage to Seward on the Kenai Peninsula. Sterling Highway, which goes to the scenic tourist town of Homer, also closed.

Both were reopened in the afternoon, said Rick Feller, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. Feller said the danger from avalanches in the area was considerable.

Source: 2 major Alaska highways reopen after avalanche | Deseret News

One highway is closed due to an avalanche, yet two highways are reopened today. Apparently avalanches cause highways to spontaneously reproduce.

[gobrien]

Journalism at its finest!

[Rance]

I think the second avalanche was right at the Seward turn off. There is a chute that comes down right at the intersection. And it's a one way on the downhill curve going to Cooper Landing, so both routes (Seward and Sterling Highway) would have been closed if you were traveling north.