NOTN- All Juneau School District (JSD) schools will be closed today January 9, due to the weather.
A statement was released by JSD yesterday evening saying that for the safety of students, staff and families all classes, meetings and activities are cancelled.
City and Borough of Juneau engineers are continuing to monitor the roofs at CBJ facilities during the closures.
Thane Road will be closed at the avalanche gates beginning at noon today due to a high risk of avalanches. An avalanche advisory for all known slide paths also went into effect yesterday evening, and officials warn that hazardous conditions are expected to intensify over the coming days.
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities announced the emergency closure for Thane Road, the closure is scheduled to be re-evaluated at 8 a.m. Saturday.
“The avalanche hazard is expected to remain high over the next few days,” DOT said in their social media post, “If a natural avalanche reaches the roadway, it is unlikely DOT&PF will be able to safely remove the avalanche debris until the hazard can be minimized from mitigation work or once the hazard has decreased naturally.”
At the same time, the City and Borough of Juneau warned that avalanche risk across the Mount Juneau slide paths remains high and is expected to significantly increase over the next few days.
An atmospheric system bringing warmer air and precipitation has raised concerns about destabilizing the deep snowpack that has built up over weeks of heavy snowfall. While the situation does not currently warrant an evacuation advisory, city officials said preparations are underway.
Officials said an emergency alert would be issued if an evacuation advisory is called.
Authorities are continuing to monitor avalanche conditions closely and emphasized that public safety remains the priority.
The city is bracing for heavy rain and potential the for more flooding of roadways and storm drains as an atmospheric river is expected to impact much Southeast Alaska into the weekend, weather officials are saying Juneau will see a transition to rain later today.
