The National Weather Service on Wednesday warned of likely power outages resulting from gusting winds and warming temperatures for Kenai, Soldotna, Nikiski and Homer.
According to a special weather statement published Wednesday morning, trees are expected to fall and limbs are expected to break as strong winds impact areas already covered with heavy snow from this weekend’s storm. Those falls could result in power outages, the statement says.
Locally, Homer Electric Association is just coming off of a busy weekend of combating outages as a result of the weekend’s snowstorm. On Facebook, the cooperative wrote Friday that a peak of around 6,000 members were without power. The restoration process stretched into Monday and was described as “very slow going” because of the heavy snow driving challenging weather and road conditions. As of Wednesday evening, their outage map described 569 members without power spread across eight communities.
Also mentioned in the National Weather Service statement is a forecast for warmer temperatures, which the service said could cause melting snow on roadways, “which will refreeze when temperatures drop back below freezing.”
Rain was falling near Soldotna around noon on Wednesday.
For updated forecast information and weather advisories, visit weather.gov/afc.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
Tree branches covered in snow stretch out over powerlines along Murwood Avenue in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
