Matanuska Valley storm history

The Palmer ASOS Station (PAAQ) reported freezing rain between 6:00 AM to 11:30 AM AKST on December 5th. An NWS employee of the Alaska Region Headquarters reported that Big Lake was receiving a bout of freezing rain at 7:30 AM AKST December 5th. A fatal traffic accident was report…

Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center reported an avalanche on Mile 16 of Palmer Fishhook Rd. A 17 year old snowboarder was rescued, but later perished at the hospital.

An avalanche in Hatcher Pass took the life of a local ski coach. Strong winds earlier in the week and low snow caused the snowpack to be very unstable.

A snowboarder triggered an avalanche on Skyscraper mountain in Hatcher Pass Recreation Area. He was buried under 7 1/2 feet of snow and perished.

A person riding a snow mobile was caught in a terrain trap when an avalanche released above him. He was buried under 6 feet of snow and perished.

Two snow-boarders were caught in an avalanche off Hatch Peak (in Hatcher Pass). One dug out, the other was buried for 2 hours then finally dug out by rescuers who attempted, unsuccessfully, CPR.Heavy wet snow fell in the Pass during the prior week, with more than a foot since Thu…

A small wind slab avalanche released under a 30 year old woman and her male friend. The slide carried the two about 100 yards down the slope. The man came to rest on top of the snow. The woman was buried, head-down, under three feet of snow. She was pulled out, not breathing and …

A group of snowmachiners Saturday triggered an avalanche on a slope south of Eureka, near the east fork of the Matanuska River. The avalanche killed two members of the group and slightly injured a third man, who was carried downslope and trapped beneath his snowmachine until he w…

Of significance was the longevity and extremes recorded during the event. First, the strongest winds recorded were at the Palmer Airport with a peak wind gust of 88 mph at 5:36 PM January 2nd, and a gust to 91 mph at the Glenn-Parks Highway Interchange at about the same time. Thi…

After a cool start to the month of June, Palmer quickly warmed up June 10 through 21, 2025. In this timeframe, the Palmer airport reported six days of 70 or above temperatures with a high of 75 on June 19th. This reflects a warm and dry pattern that set up region-wide and enhance…

An avalanche slid into the Little Susitna River blocking the river flow and flooding roads near the river; including the Government Peak Campground. River flow would eventually erode the blockage and restore flow to the river.

There were reports of downed spruce trees on Pittman Rd and Church Rd. The Glenn Highway weather station near the Matanuska Lake reported strong winds with a peak wind gust of 73 mph at 3:20 AM AKST. Social media posts reported downed trees and roof damage. There were many LSRs i…

A report from social media revealed areas of ice on roadways. Social media also reported that a school bus slid off the road in Butte. The Mat-Su Borough Planning Department had to cancel its January 6th meeting due to inclement weather. The Palmer-based Alaska State Troopers res…

The Matanuska Valley saw the heaviest snow on the evening of Dec 7 until shortly after midnight with a frontal passage. 3-6 inches of snow was observed, with the highest total of 6 inches reported from a trained spotter in Sutton at 7 AM AKST December 8th.

Alaska DOT reported icy roads along the Parks Highway from milepost 29 north. Temperatures were above freezing for the Palmer and Wasilla areas, so as several periods of rain showers moved across the Matanuska Valley on November 22 through 24, the areas that saw freezing rain and…

Several webcams and photos sent in from social media showed ground blizzard conditions on roadways across the Matanuska Valley beginning close to 12 PM AKST 11/20 and lasting through much of the afternoon. Winds recorded by AWOS/ASOS stations in Wasilla and Palmer recorded peak g…

Snowfall of 6.0 inches was measured NW of Palmer on Fishhook Road and additional reports of snowfall of 6+ inches was reported from Sutton to Palmer to Wasilla.

A spotter reported a storm total snowfall of 15.5 inches in Butte between the afternoon of 11/8 and the afternoon of 11/9. The remainder of the Matanuska Valley saw around 10 to 15 inches of snow during the event. Precipitation briefly turned over to rain during the early morning…

Heavy rains in the Matanuska Valley, specifically around Hatcher's Pass and the Enchanted Forest Subdivision in Houston, AK, reported minor flooding from 1-2 inches of rainfall that fell over the course of the 24 hour period September 1, 2023.

Red Flag Warning (pre-greenup) criteria at the Palmer ASOS began at 2:15 pm AKST and continued through 6:00 pm AKST. Temperatues ranged from 72 to 74 Fahrenheit. Southeast winds ranged from 15 mph to 25 mph with a peak gust of 33 mph. Relative humidity ranged from 22% to 25% duri…

The AWOS in Wasilla reported unknown precipitation type at around 4 PM AKST, verified to be mainly freezing rain based on other reports and nearby webcam imagery. The Glenn Highway was reportedly very slick south of the Parks Highway and Glenn Highway interchange near Palmer duri…

Surface observations indicated blowing snow began around midnight on December 23 as northeasterly gap winds rapidly developed and conditions worsened through the day. Winds were sustained at around 40 knots (46 mph) at both the Palmer and Wasilla surface observing sites for nearl…

A third round of heavy snow occurred December 14 through 15 resulting in about a foot of snow across the Matanuska Valley, on top of the snowfall still on the ground from the previous two December snowfall events, leading to increased impacts across the Valley. This snowfall was …

The second round of heavy snow occurred on December 11 through 12 resulting in 1 to 2 feet of snow across the Borough. Reports of snowfall measured ranged from 12 to 24 inches across the Matanuska Valley. The verifying report came in from Palmer with 24 inches of new snow measure…

Most of the heavier snowfall fell between the evening of 12/6/22 and the morning of 12/7. Storm total snowfall reports from public, spotters and NWS employees ranged from about 10 inches to 16 inches across the Matanuska Valley, with the highest amounts focused between Big Lake a…

Numerous roads and low lying properties were reported to be flooded Monday night and Tuesday downstream from the Parks Highway Bridge and were impacted by flood waters for about 24-36 hours.

Flooding was verified by Alaska State Troopers in Wasilla. The Regional Operations Center and the State Emergency Operations Center reported on August 8th, 2022 at approximately 22:09 hours, Alaska State Troopers (AST) began receiving multiple 911 calls reporting flooding in the …

Little Susitna River below Hatcher Pass Bridge peaked in action stage and was close to minor flood stage, as seen in hydrograph and data table. Data from this station's hydrograph were used to populate the verifying & peak times for this event. Matanuska River at Old Glenn Hwy ap…

Local storm report at Big Lake: 9.0 inches of snow as of 7:30 PM AST 3/5/2022.

Snowfall reports of 6 to 8 inches were received between Willow to Houston to Big Lake area. Also 6 inches was reported 11 miles NNW of Palmer. Multiple reports of 3 to 8 inches through the Matanuska Valley with the highest report to the NNE of Willow where 8 inches of snow was re…

Sent as visibility was very low during the evening commute due to a heavy snow band that set up over the Anchorage Bowl with up to 1 inch per hour snowfall rates and with many people commuting back to the valley on the Glenn Highway. Pretty bad conditions were occurring throughou…

AWOS observation located at the Parks Highway at Hawk Lane MP53 (HKLA2) reported unknown precipitation and a road temperature of 30-31F with an air temperature of 33-34F beginning at 7:10 and continued through 8:10 on the 28th of December. The Alaska 511 webpage at 5:30 PM on the…

The office received reports on the Twitter social media platform for Meadow Lakes where two observations were posted. The first was approximately 0.185 inches of ice accumulation occurred since 8:30 in the morning on the 26th of December. The second one was approximately 1/8 inch…

Spotters reported between 6 to 8 inches of snow throughout portions of the Matanuska Valley. The 511 Alaska page also reported very difficult road conditions from Big Lake to Sutton.

Multiple reports were called in of widespread 6 to 11 inch amounts of snow across the Matanuska Valley.

Avalanche observer from the Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center reported 5 avalanches between these 2:30 PM and 6:30 PM. One of the avalanches was estimated to be a D3 to D3.5 sized avalanche and crossed both the upper and lower road to Hatcher Pass. A avalanche has not covered the low…

Peak gusts measured at Palmer Municipal Airport (PAAQ).

Palmer ASOS measured a gust to 67 mph during this time. A report from social media showed a trailer that flipped over on the highway and someone also mentioned that they lost 20 ft of fence. Matanuska Electric Association reported over 10,000 people without power. NWS employees r…

Late on December 21, an ice jam on Willow Creek near the Deneki Bridge (61.77N, -149.956W) caused water to back up and flow through numerous residences. Deneki Road and access to the Deneki Bridge was closed for multiple weeks between December 21 and January 8, 2020. At least thi…

Late on December 21, an ice jam on Willow Creek near the Deneki Bridge (61.77N, -149.956W) caused water to back up and flow through numerous residences. Deneki Road and access to the Deneki Bridge was closed for multiple weeks between December 21 and January 8, 2020. At least thi…

An NWS Employee in Big Lake reported 0.25 of ice accumulation.

Palmer ASOS reported 0.44 of precipitation between 5:32 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. This caused localized flooding of parking lots in the Palmer area. Quarter inch hail was also reported at this time.

Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center reported an avalanche in Hatcher Pass closed the road to the ski area at the top. 10 people were stranded at the ski area for 24 hours while DOT cleared the road. No one was injured.

An NWS employee reported heavy freezing rain causing very icy conditions along the Glenn Highway.

Largest hail reports were estimated from social media to be around 1.0 inch. An NWS employee reported 1.0 inch drifts of pea-sized hail.

A lightning strike near Houston, AK knocked out power for more than 28,000 people. The lightning strike at 5:42 p.m. affected the Intertie between Anchorage and Fairbanks, knocking out power from Willow to as far as North Pole and Salcha. According to Golden Valley Electric Assoc…

At station PAAQ, Palmer, wind gusts passed the 60 mile-per-hour mark beginning around 2 p.m. AKST February 5. Winds continued to gust above warning criteria for the next two hours. The peak gust of 75 miles-per-hour occurred at 10 p.m. February 6. DOT station GTFA2 measured a pea…