Dec. 5 – The Anchorage School District switched to remote learning Thursday as rain and freezing rain created dangerous driving conditions in the city, particularly on side roads.

The district initially announced a two-hour delay Thursday morning before making the remote learning decision. A message to staff described “poor weather and dangerous road conditions.” Girdwood K-8 school remained open Thursday, the district said.

Schools in Susitna Valley also switched to remote learning on Thursday. Most Mat-Su schools remained open.

Anchorage school district officials said they made closure decisions Thursday morning based on road conditions and questions about the forecast. Officials in Mat-Su said there was rainfall and bad roads as students traveled to school, although at least one accident had been reported previously.

The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for Anchorage on Wednesday afternoon that will be in effect until 3 p.m. Thursday. Similar advisories applied to Mat-Su, Valdez and the Copper River Basin.

Motorists reported some slush on major roads Thursday morning, but treacherous conditions on side roads and parking lots with water over ice.

Anchorage police responded to 18 vehicles in distress and nine collisions, including two with injuries, before 11:45 a.m., spokeswoman Shelly Wozniak said.

People Mover temporarily suspended bus service Thursday morning “due to dangerous weather and road conditions.” Officials assessed road conditions throughout the morning and decided to resume operations at midday, said Bart Rudolph, manager of transportation planning and communications. Delays and diversions are to be expected on some routes.

It’s rare for People Mover to suspend service, Rudolph said, but the roads were so slick early Thursday that it wasn’t safe to keep the buses running: Three buses remained on the Lake around 6 a.m Otis Parkway stuck and their wheels spun on the icy road.

“We had to go out and put down an incredible amount of sand to even get the bus off,” he said. “And we had a lot of other drivers reporting buses swerving – it was pretty difficult to keep them on the road, but then we made the call.”

One to two-tenths of an inch of rain fell across much of Anchorage by mid-morning Thursday, according to meteorologist Michael Brown. Temperatures across the city ranged from 30 to 34 degrees, and rain falling on cold ground caused surfaces to freeze and become glazed, he said.

The rain was expected to ease by the afternoon, although more rain was possible overnight, which could lead to icy roads on the way to work Friday morning, Brown said.

The Anchorage School District made the decision to postpone classes around 4:30 a.m., spokesman Corey Allen Young said.

“The freezing rain started just before 4 a.m.,” he wrote in an email. “Forecasts are not always accurate … so the administration compiled information from across the Anchorage Bowl before deciding that schools would move to remote learning.”

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District notified families about dangerous roads around 8:20 a.m., saying the “weather came at an inconvenient time as many families were already on their way to school.” The buses were running, but there could be delays, district spokesman John Notestine wrote in the statement.

The icy roads caused a pickup truck to lose control on Knik-Goose Bay Road around 6 a.m. and collided with an SUV near Gleason Lane, Alaska State Troopers said. Delynn Brouillet, 64, died at the scene and both drivers were seriously injured, troopers said. The road was closed for more than four hours while police officers documented the scene and cleared vehicles and debris, it said.

This is a developing story and will be updated.