The National Weather Service in Anchorage reports that a High Wind Warning remains in effect till 6:00 PM this evening for Portage Valley and Eastern Turnagain Arm.
East winds are expected to blow between 35 and 55 mph with gusts up to 80 mph. KSRM spoke to the National Weather Service, “We’ve got a pretty strong low pressure system that moved in north through the Western Gulf of Alaska right now. The front ahead of it should continue to kick up winds up in the Anchorage area and down into the Turnagain Arm. We expect that to ramp up through the morning and peak early afternoon hours around the Portage and Eastern Turnagain Arm. They should just, early afternoon, ramp back down and taper off this evening.”
Heavy rain, occasionally mixed with snow, will occur through Portage Valley and Eastern Turnagain Arm in addition to the high winds. National Weather Service in Anchorage says, “We’ll have precipitation as well it’s just not going to meet warning level criteria for precipitation. But through Turnagain Pass, specifically we’re goin to have rain mixed with snow and going to be heavy rain at times in addition to the winds we’ve got. It’ll be pretty messy through Turnagain there, but there won’t be enough precipitation to warrant issuing the warning for it.”
High winds may move loose debris, damage property, and cause power outages. Travel along the Seward Highway could become difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Prepare for the possibility of widespread power outages. Use caution if you’ll be driving from Kenai to Anchorage.